Compliance February 26, 2010

House Approves One-month Extension of COBRA Subsidy

February 26, 2010 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - The House of Representatives has approved legislation to extend federal subsidies of COBRA health care premiums through the end of March.
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Under current law, employees involuntarily terminated through February 28 are eligible for the subsidy, but H.R. 4681, would extend the 65%, 15-month federal premium subsidy to employees involuntarily terminated through March 31, Business Insurance reports. The measure would allow employees who first lost group coverage due to a reduction in hours and then were terminated to receive the COBRA premium subsidy, so long as certain conditions were met.

According to Business Insurance, the Senate is considering similar legislation, H.R. 1586, that would extend the subsidy through March 28, but it is possible the Senate instead will take up the House COBRA measure, which also includes provisions to extend temporarily other expiring laws.

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Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nevada) has drafted a bill that would extend the COBRA premium subsidy to employees involuntarily terminated through the end of the year (see Reid Puts Together New Bill for COBRA Subsidy Extension, Pension Relief).

According to the news report, the Senate is expected to consider the bill next week.

Benefits February 26, 2010

Pay for Performance Trends Growing among Higher Ed Institutions

February 26, 2010 (PLANSPONSOR.com) – Sibson Consulting reports that pay for staff performance and better performance processes are gaining traction in academia.
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According to Sibson, more college and university supervisors and staff are engaging in performance planning/goal setting, ongoing review and feedback, and end-of-year formal assessment. “Even with tight budgets, better alignment of salary increases with performance is becoming prevalent, and incentives that have to be earned each year are under consideration,” Sibson said.

The consultant noted that performance planning and assessment have not been taken into consideration by many higher education institutions as effectively as they could be; however, the present state of the economy and higher education’s fiscal situation have made academic leaders focus more on staff performance.

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“Institutions of higher education are increasingly determining what constitutes performance and whether rewards or other processes support accountability, reinforce expectations and reward results. Performance criteria are being connected to rewards such as merit pay, incentives, career advancement/job progression and service awards,” said Karen Hutcheson, senior vice president in the New York office of Sibson Consulting.

However, higher education institutions still have work to do with their rewards process, as Sibson reports it still sees:

  • Inconsistent performance management administration across campus;
  • Emphasis on appraisal of past performance rather than future planning;
  • Performance management viewed as an HR requirement and not a management tool;
  • Processes, tools and criteria defined by HR with little or no input from supervisors;
  • Little or no link between performance and pay; and
  • Cultural resistance to differentiation or constructive feedback.

 

“Institutions of higher education are expressing a need to align performance with institutional strategy, communicate the business needs of the institution, set higher standards for performance at all levels and hold people accountable. How the work gets done is as important as what gets done, and there is growing emphasis on staff development as a component of performance,” said David Insler, senior vice president in Sibson’s Los Angeles office.

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