Blog
October 19, 2026
Maximizing Your Health Plan If You Meet Your Deductible
At some point during a health plan year, you may reach a meaningful milestone: you have paid enough out of pocket for your health plan to begin sharing the cost of covered care. This transition often goes unnoticed, and its impact on your health plan is not always understood. Knowing where you stand can help...
October 15, 2026
Addressing 5 Common Sources of Water Damage Claims
Businesses often associate water damage with storms, flooding and other weather-related events. Significant losses, however, can arise from a variety of other sources. A pipe fitting could fail overnight, flooding a lower floor and damaging property; a water heater may rupture without warning, damaging inventory and equipment; or a malfunctioning sprinkler head may discharge water...
October 12, 2026
California Increases Pay Data Reporting Penalties
On Sept. 30, 2026, California amended its pay data reporting law to significantly increase the penalties for repeated failures to comply with the law’s pay data reporting requirements. The law takes effect Jan. 1, 2027. Background California’s pay data reporting law requires employers with 100 or more employees or with 100 or more employees hired...
October 8, 2026
Walking Safely in the Winter Months
Cold-weather walking surfaces such as parking lots, ramps, stairs and sidewalks pose serious slip, trip and fall risks for workers. Snow accumulation, ice formation and refreezing meltwater are not always visible underfoot, making these hazards easy to miss. Contributing factors like poor lighting, wind-driven precipitation, and workers rushing between locations to escape the cold can...
October 6, 2026
How to Announce Open Enrollment to Employees
Open enrollment allows your workforce to make decisions about their health plans and benefits for the upcoming year. How and when you inform employees about this period can determine whether they fully engage with this opportunity, passively enroll or let it pass them by entirely. A rushed or vague announcement can lead to confusion, missed...
October 1, 2026
Managing Benefits Coverage Across Multiple Renewal Dates
A benefits package often functions as a coordinated program, with each line of coverage moving through renewal and enrollment on the same timeline. Over time, however, carrier changes, new benefit offerings and organizational transitions can place individual plans on different renewal schedules. While differing effective dates may seem like a minor administrative detail, they can...
September 29, 2026
Understanding Retainage Disputes
Retainage is a common construction practice in which a portion of payments due to a contractor or subcontractor is withheld until agreed project milestones or completion requirements have been satisfied. When used appropriately, retainage is intended to incentivize contractors and subcontractors to complete work to the expected standard and ensure that defects or deficiencies are...
September 24, 2026
Why Healthcare Costs Will Rise Significantly in 2027
Healthcare costs, and consequently employee benefit costs, have been growing at an alarming rate in recent years, and they’re not slowing down. Mercer projects that the total health benefit cost per employee will rise 8.2% on average in 2027, after accounting for cost-cutting measures, the highest increase in 15 years. To put it in perspective,...
September 22, 2026
The Limits of Indemnification Clauses
An indemnification clause is a provision in a construction contract that transfers risk to a specific party, namely the project owner, general contractor (GC) or subcontractor. Ultimately, it requires them to cover either a portion or the entirety of losses and damages caused by another party, as well as associated legal defense costs. Also known...
