Insights

Latest Insurance Talent Perspectives

The Human Element of AI Transformation

Discover ways to effectively navigate through AI transformation. Only 4% of companies say they’re creating real value from their AI investments. The key differentiator is how well organizations manage the human side of implementation. 

Download the white paper to explore best practices for taking a human-focused approach as you lead through change.

Recruiter Report: Find the “Perfect” Candidate

Finding top talent remains difficult in today’s labor market. However, holding out for the “perfect” candidate may mean losing out on high-potential individuals that would thrive in the role.

Read our blog post gain insights on redefining what the ideal candidate looks like and share how to take a realistic and future-focused approach to making the right hire.

Explore Our Full Thought Leadership Library

  • Reset

Insurance 2.0: Finding Tech Talent for the Insurance Industry

The crunch is on! As analytics and big data shape the future of the insurance industry and the demand for high-quality talent continues to grow, insurance organizations are faced with the difficult task of finding experienced data and analytics professionals amid a challenging recruiting climate. Already, the U.S. is expected to see a shortfall of more than 260,000 analytics professionals as early as next year. Fortunately, the hunting ground for qualified, experienced professionals does not have to remain confined to the insurance industry. In fact, analytics presents insurance organizations with a natural opportunity to broaden their search for talent to other industries. Insurers should look beyond insurance-specific talent and consider employees from financial services, health care, Internet-based technology, retail and other consumer-driven fields. These industries all provide access to cutting-edge, forward-thinking, skilled individuals who are capable of fulfilling the industry’s growing analytics needs. In addition, broadening the search outside of the industry allows insurance organizations to enrich the current talent pool and increases the chances of finding the right candidate. Companies should look for candidates with a well-developed combination of skills including problem-solving, information technology, quantitative analysis, technical architecture and hands-on experience working in areas such as data mining, data modeling and data gathering. Don’t overlook “soft skills” that are key to success, including presentation and communication capabilities. Analytics professionals are often required to interact across job functions, so being able to speak the language of business and “translate” tech speak is an important quality for a standout candidate. Interviewers should provide ample opportunities for potential candidates to showcase their analytical skills. Ask candidates about past projects, including those that may not have gone well. Focus on questions that will uncover their communication and problem-solving abilities. Allowing candidates to discuss obstacles and roadblocks can provide insight into their ability to overcome challenges and move initiatives forward. Prompt the candidates to describe their communication strategies or how they have assisted in solving a business problem in one of their past roles. These are great leading questions to assist you in determining if a candidate is able to influence decision makers and communicate clearly and effectively. The demand for analytics talent is growing. This is the perfect opportunity for insurers to reach individuals who may have previously overlooked the industry as a career option and to bring in fresh talent to fill the ranks. Where is your organization turning to fill its current analytics talent needs?

Preparing for the Future Amid the Insurance Talent Storm

The results are in! The results from our third quarter iteration of the U.S. Insurance Labor Outlook Study are now available. Compared to the January 2014 survey, the rate of expected hiring experienced a slight decrease, down to 58%; however, this remains the second highest reading since we started the semi-annual survey back in 2009. In addition, unemployment continues to be low, with the BLS reporting the August 2014 rate for insurance at 2.4%. The industry is clearly enjoying an extended period of relative stability. However, the optimism surrounding the low unemployment and continued focus on hiring is clouded by a diminishing talent pool and increased recruiting difficulty. The industry has seen growth of more than 51,000 new positions since its low in April 2011, reaching 1,471,600 total employees in July 2014—the highest the industry has seen since 2008. Already companies are reporting difficulty in recruiting, and that is only expected to increase as the available talent pool continues to shrink. Industry wide, technology, claims, underwriting and analytics positions continue to be the most in demand. This matches the growing focus on big data and technology within the industry. Due in part to their high demand, technology, actuarial, analytics and claims positions were reported to be more difficult to fill than in past years. It is expected that this demand will continue to grow as technology permeates throughout the insurance industry. Consider also the 211,000 currently open jobs across the industry, and it is easy to predict that recruitment for most insurance roles will become more and more challenging. This renewed hiring push coupled with already low industry unemployment and an aging workforce presents a demand for talent that is far surpassing the current supply. Currently, 20% of the industry workforce is nearing retirement—a number that is expected to grow to 25% by 2018. The tightening labor market is making it very difficult for organizations to combat the talent shortage brought on by the growing number of retirements.  In order to meet the growing industry need, organizations must look toward building their current talent pipelines. Fortunately, the influx of Millennials into the workforce provides a solution. Already, Millennials make up 25% of the workforce. That number is expected to double by 2020. These young professionals are tech savvy, innovative and seek a job that allows them to make a difference—all ambitions supported by a career in insurance. The focus now must shift to engaging and recruiting this talented generation. Focus on promoting the benefits of working within the industry and touting the unique opportunities offered, including the nobility of the profession, competitive compensation and historically low unemployment compared to the national average. The industry cannot be lulled into a fall sense of security by the current market stabilization. We must look to the future as the talent storm continues to strengthen. Only by preparing today, keeping one step ahead and building a bench of talented professionals, can insurance successfully weather the storm. Is your organization prepared for the growing talent shortage?

Insurance 2.0: Attracting Tech Talent to the Insurance Industry

As more and more insurers find the value in leveraging data analytics throughout their organizations, the demand for high-quality, experienced data and analytics professionals is on the rise. Alas, the insurance industry is not the only one looking to expand its analytics presence. With a shallow pool of qualified analytics talent, insurance organizations are facing an increasingly challenging recruiting climate as they attempt to address their analytics and big data needs. As mentioned in our recent analytics blog post, the demand for actuarial talent in 2014 was surpassed by analytics for the first time in the history of The Jacobson Group and Ward Group’s Semi-Annual U.S. Insurance Labor Outlook Study. In addition, analytics ranks in the top five most in-demand job functions, as well as in the top five areas where companies are planning to increase staff throughout the year. Globally, insurers are expected to add nearly 24,000 new analytics jobs by 2015, with more than 15,000 of these jobs located within the United States. As companies add analytics positions at a rate more than five times faster than the overall national employment growth rate, the talent supply is struggling to keep pace. Across all industries, as early as next year the U.S. could see a shortfall of more than 260,000 analytics professionals. The talent crunch is on. What can insurance do to compete?  Create a compelling story. Highlight what the industry has already done using analytics, what is currently underway and what the future has in store for insurance analytics. Showcase how analytics is creating exciting changes within insurance. Promote the role of data and analytics in achieving success. Showcase the innovative role analytics is playing within the industry. Insurance organizations are embracing the potential that analytics provides, leading the industry to streamline or rethink many of its current processes. Focus on analytics and big data as the drivers behind these exciting and forward-thinking changes. Spotlight your company culture. Today’s analytics professionals are looking for a company culture that supports technology, utilizes data in decision-making and has analysis embedded throughout its functions. Insurance offers that. The industry must highlight this leading-edge culture when reaching out to potential analytics candidates. Promote the dynamic opportunity insurance analytics offers. Analytics is permeating throughout all areas of the insurance industry, from claims and risk management to marketing. Focus on the opportunities the industry offers for professionals to utilize their highly specialized skills to the fullest extent across multiple job functions. Highlight the support of industry leaders. Due to the relative novelty of analytics as a career opportunity, job security plays a large role in attracting candidates. Leaders in the insurance C-suite should consider providing executive sponsorship to highlight the industry’s commitment to its analytics initiatives. In order to keep pace with the competition and ultimately get a leg up, insurers must focus on attracting and securing analytics professionals. With these talented individuals on the team, the insurance industry is sure to thrive in today’s dynamic, global marketplace.  What is your organization doing to attract and engage analytics talent?

Insurance 2.0: Pioneering Analytics in the Industry

From analytics to big data, red-hot technology buzzwords are sweeping across the insurance industry and companies are beginning to realize the significant value of these trends. Progressive insurance organizations are embracing these groundbreaking applications of technology and changing the way the industry does business. For many insurance organizations, the use of analytics has become a tool allowing them to differentiate themselves, stay ahead of the curve, build their brands, enhance profitability and gain a leg-up in today’s competitive market. According to IBM’s latest study on big data and analytics, nearly three-quarters of insurance organizations reported that the use of analytics is providing them with a competitive edge. Furthermore, a survey of the Chartered Institute of Loss Adjusters showed that 82 percent of industry professionals believe that organizations that do not take advantage of big data trends will become uncompetitive. The impact of analytics and big data on the insurance industry is sweeping. Already a vital part of the P/C industry, analytics is now permeating into the Life and Disability and Healthcare industries, and the impact is being felt across job functions including actuarial, claims, underwriting, product development, information technology, marketing and even human resources. Analytics is impacting every aspect of insurance organizations. As insurers look to harness the competitive advantages and powerful insights that analytics and big data can contribute, the race to find high-quality talent is on. According to The Jacobson Group and Ward Group’s 2014 Semi-Annual U.S. Insurance Labor Outlook Study, for the first time ever, the demand for actuarial talent was surpassed by analytics. Currently, analytics ranks in the top five most in demand job functions, as well as in the top five areas where companies are looking to increase staff throughout the year. We at Jacobson have seen firsthand the increased demand for analytics talent—across all levels and functional areas—and we don’t expect it to subside anytime soon. Year after year, the U.S. Insurance Labor Outlook Study has seen a 10 percent increase in the number of companies planning to increase their technology related staff across the board. Current forecasts predict that by 2015, 4.4 million IT jobs will be created globally to support big data, with 1.9 million of those jobs occurring within the United States. In addition, worldwide big data spending is expected to more than double from $27 billion to $55 billion in 2016. Clearly analytics and big data are heavy hitting trends that are here to stay. Forward-thinking insurers stand at the start of the industry’s analytics story and are finding themselves in the exciting position of being pioneers in incorporating this ever-growing field into the day-to-day operations of the insurance field. This is the industry’s chance to embrace the cutting-edge and run with it.

PPACA Open Enrollment: Is Your Organization Prepared?

It’s almost that time again. Open healthcare enrollment for 2015 is quickly approaching. With the recently announced postponement, open enrollment is now slated to run from November 15, 2014, through January 15, 2015. Despite the one-month delay, most insurers already fear that the 2015 enrollment period will prove to be rockier than the inaugural Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) enrollment period. Is your organization prepared? The 2014 roll-out saw more than 8 million people sign up for insurance coverage through the various state and federal exchanges; however, many of these individuals were previously insured via individual plans. It is therefore not very surprising that there are still an estimated 25 million or more uninsured individuals — a number equal to nearly the entire population of Texas. We are now one year further into the PPACA implementation and the deadlines have become more straightforward and the fees for remaining uninsured are increasing. A number of the still uninsured individuals are planning to jump on the healthcare bandwagon. In addition, those who participated in the healthcare exchanges now have a better understanding of the process and are planning to take advantage of this knowledge and shop around during the upcoming enrollment period. As a result, many healthcare insurers are spending time re-pricing and renewing their products in order to stay competitive. In 2014, insurers were overwhelmed by the volume of applicants despite months of preparation. Even outsourcing venues were tapped out as a potential resource. Organizations need to plan now in order to avoid a shortage of staff to handle the expected enrollment crunch. Don’t let your organization head into this enrollment period unprepared! Today’s “run lean” business environment has made healthcare organizations healthy and competitive, but this is one situation where it is better to be over-prepared than understaffed. Business functions such as customer service, member advocacy, marketing and enrollment are expected to be areas of immense need during the 2015 enrollment period. Organizations looking to keep ahead of the avalanche should work now to line up partnerships and bring on additional staff. A contingency plan needs to be put into place to ensure that there is sufficient staff to meet the demand. Look towards local and contract talent, healthcare staffing resources, and overseas outsourcing venues to provide the necessary personnel. At Jacobson, we are already filling in our pipeline with qualified candidates to help insurers meet their impending needs. In order to ensure that your organization successfully weathers the upcoming healthcare enrollment period, the key is to be prepared. By utilizing available resources and bringing on additional staff, insurers will have a readily accessible buffer for the anticipated flood gates of enrollment. What is your organization doing to prepare for the upcoming enrollment period?

Hiring for a Changing Market: Interview for Innovation

It is my pleasure to introduce a guest blogger for this latest post. Dave Coons is a senior vice president here at Jacobson, providing leadership to our professional recruiting, emerging talent, RPO and temporary and temp-to-hire staffing practices. His insights into interview strategies are worth a read. Enjoy… In today’s fast-paced, ever-changing business world, innovation and flexibility are key to success. Most business professionals have heard the mantra “innovate or die,” yet are unsure how to turn this idea into a reality within their own organizations. For the insurance industry, this continued quest for innovation is especially important given constantly evolving marketplace conditions, climate concerns, rapidly changing technology risks, an ever-shifting web of compliance demands, and continued globalization. At the risk of stating the obvious, the first, and arguably most important, step in creating a culture that fosters creative thought and adapts to change is to hire individuals who are innovative and adaptable. Yet, hiring for innovation can be challenging. Because innovation and flexibility often require out-of-the-box thinking and creativity, vetting these characteristics during the interview process is different than interviewing for traditional business skillsets. In fact, when searching for an innovative candidate, experience and skills are often not as important as that individual’s personality and creative thought process. While hiring managers may look for a specific number of years of relevant job experience when filling a traditional position, managers looking for creative individuals might instead focus on candidates who ask a lot of questions and seem able to make intuitive leaps during the interview process. What does Innovation Mean to You? Before you begin your search, make sure you understand what innovation means to your culture and organization. What does being innovative mean to the role in question? How does flexibility apply to the position? It is important that you have an understanding of what you want these traits to translate into within the job function and within the company as a whole. Are you looking for an individual who generates ideas and is a constant thought leader or are you looking for an employee that can take a creative idea from the drawing board through implementation? Depending on your response to these questions, you may want to rethink the skills and experience you are looking for in a candidate. How do I Find Innovative Talent? While you obviously want to make sure that a candidate’s skills are compatible with the job opening and that their values are a good fit with those of the organization, these are only a piece of the total picture. The search for innovative talent requires a focus on personal characteristics and reactions. In order to ascertain a candidate’s propensity for innovation, focus on asking open-ended questions that go beyond the standard interview stock. Ask the individual to share an experience or past event when they have had to adapt to a situation or when they have shown their creativity in dealing with a particular incident. Introduce behavioral interview guides to gauge their response. For example, provide them with specific scenarios and ask them to describe how they would react. Is their selected method of response in line with what you are looking to happen in that situation? Use follow-up questions to really understand a candidate’s personality and to get the information you are seeking. Simply asking individuals to “tell me more” can be a great way to get them to share how they may handle various aspects of the job. Make sure you don’t lead them to the answer; let them be open and honest with you when they respond. Have your candidate interview with multiple individuals from your team in order to get a variety of perspectives and impressions. Perhaps someone from your team sees something in the individual that everyone else overlooked. A team member who is currently working in a position similar to the one you are filling is more likely to recognize a key skill or trait than a manager who may not be as involved in the day-to-day aspects of that particular role. Managers may also want to utilize case study or writing exercises to ascertain a candidate’s innovative tendencies. Ask the individual to submit a brief write-up on something particularly innovative that they have completed while on the job or in their personal lives. Give them an organizational case study and have them put together an innovative solution. These exercises are particularly helpful when interviewing individuals who may not have an extensive work background or applicable job experience, but do have all the skills and competencies you are looking for. If your company is ready to embrace innovative thinking and new ideas, now is the time to add talented, creative individuals to your team. No matter what tactics you use in your quest for innovative talent, finding quality employees who are inventive and flexible is key to staying competitive in today’s market. What is your company currently doing to ensure you hire individuals who thrive on innovation?

Rebranding Insurance: Changing the Outdated View of the Industry

The insurance industry is way behind the times. There are no opportunities for me to advance my career. It’s a stale industry that fails to embrace change. We’ve heard it all before. The talent market image of the insurance industry is not a very positive one. Many individuals view insurance as an out-of-date, antiquated labor market that offers little room for growth. As such, recruiting talent, at all levels, is extremely challenging. As the industry continues to see low unemployment rates, a greying workforce and an increasing demand for talent, recruitment is only going to get more and more difficult. The key to combating this worsening skills gap is to find new talent to fill the industry’s in-demand positions. But finding interested talent for what is deemed a “less desirable” industry is not easy, and we, as a whole, are not doing enough to change the public’s perception of our field. But just how can we combat these inaccurate stereotypes? What can we do to make insurance more attractive? The key is rebranding. But individual insurance organizations cannot take on the project of disproving the current industry stereotypes by themselves. The sector as a whole needs to join together and collaboratively work toward promoting the many positive aspects of a career in insurance. We must focus on highlighting the attractive benefits that we, as an industry, offer to professionals. It may be surprising to learn that many of the key perks sought after by today’s talent, are cross-generational. From Millennials to Baby Boomers, employees are looking for workplace flexibility, respect, guidance and a work/life balance—all things offered with a career in insurance. In order to attract these professionals, we must start showcasing how our organizational cultures foster collaboration, promote and support mentoring, nurture innovation and demonstrate corporate responsibility. The industry also needs to position itself as tech-savvy and cutting-edge. Insurance organizations should promote any involvement with hot button trends such as analytics and big data. Organizations should stay on top of the latest tech trends and advances to ensure our employees have the technology needed to function at the highest level. We must embrace social media and all of its potential by being not only present, but engaged, on popular social media sites including LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook. Members of the younger generation, as well as many of today’s more established professionals, utilize social networks for their career research and networking. It is only by updating and rebranding our image that the insurance industry can successfully combat the impending talent shortage. We must follow the lead taken by so many other business sectors, including logistics and healthcare, to position insurance as “modern,” “cool,” and a “great place to work.” The stakes are high lest we continue to lose ground to more proactive industries that have already dedicated themselves to rebuilding their image.

The PPACA’s Lingering Effects: Insurance Employment Growth

The first half of 2014 is looking strong for the insurance industry talent market. Employment is on the rise and the current unemployment rate has reverted to levels the industry has not seen since before the Great Recession. While continued economic recovery (albeit slow) has driven gains in throughout the insurance industries, the health insurance industry has seen the second greatest gains so far this year, following agencies/brokerages. Driving this momentum is the wave of hiring that has accompanied the implementation of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA). While the new health insurance law officially took effect in March of 2010, many of its major provisions—including the health insurance exchanges—were phased in this past January. According to the BLS, in March 2014 alone, 1,300 positions were added to direct health and medical insurance carriers. This brings the total medical and health insurance job growth throughout the past year up to an estimated 19,300 jobs—the highest annual increase since June. For the years leading up to this major provisions rollout, health and medical insurance carriers have debated both the short-term and long-term effects of the law. It is clear, with the first PPACA-influenced enrollment period officially complete, that the short-term effect is a significant uptick in industry employment. In fact, we saw unemployment gains normally unheard of in the insurance industry thanks to the PPACA’s stimulating effect on the health insurance labor market. Despite these positive short-term results, there is still much speculation regarding the long-term impact PPACA will have on the health insurance industry and the broader economy. As mentioned in a previous post, the industry is expected to see continued, and likely accelerated, cost escalation as a result of the increased market interference. Of course, this means higher premiums for the industries customers: Corporate America. The upcoming implementation of the “employer mandate” in January, 2015 will add another layer of reporting complexity and potential costs to many employers. Taken together, these rising costs will inhibit future labor growth in the broader economy. Less than six months into the implementation of the law’s major provisions, many are anxious as we wait and see how the forced changes to the industry play out. What are your thoughts on how the PPACA will affect the health insurance industry in the long-run?

Retaining Emerging Talent: Top Strategies to Keep Millennials Engaged

You dedicated time to create a welcoming and enticing work environment. You have positioned your company as innovative and cutting-edge with social media and new technologies. You have embraced a fresh company culture that is appealing to young talent. You have worked hard to attract the younger generation into your organization. Now what? With 60 percent of Millennials expected to leave their employers within the first three years, what can organizations do to keep these future leaders engaged? Much like the recruitment methods for Millennials, the key lies within your company culture. In order to retain young professionals, you must live the brand that you have created to attract them. 1. Offer desirable perks and benefits. It may be surprising for many organizations to learn that most young professionals seek the same benefits and perks as other generations currently in the workforce. These include a quick climb up the corporate ladder, career development opportunities, high employee morale and a sense of purpose in their work. By implementing changes to increase retention amongst your youngest employees, you are also fostering an engaging work environment for every member of your organization. 2. Fast track high-performing employees. If you want to keep today’s young, talented individuals within your company, make sure you are placing your best and brightest on the road to success. Highlight and recognize high performers for their accomplishments and provide additional assignments and responsibilities to both challenge and empower them. These added opportunities will not only help prepare you’re A-players for advancement opportunities in the future but will also demonstrate that you recognize their accomplishments and are committed to helping them grow their own success. 3. Offer career development and training programs. If young professionals feel that they are unchallenged in their roles, they are more likely to begin looking for an alternative opportunity to develop and expand their skills. In order to combat this, consider ramping up your training and career development programs Millennials want to grow their knowledge and experience; provide lunch and learns, access to external training and job shadowing to keep them engaged. 4. Foster an inviting and inclusive culture. Don’t overlook the importance of employee morale. Relationships between employees and leadership are key to building engagement. Focus on promoting open and collaborative communication amongst employees, supervisors and even executive management. Encourage positivity and teamwork through group activities and social events. Provide you’re top talent with opportunities to network with executive management. These positive interactions will go a long way to increasing job satisfaction. 5. Engage in community service and volunteer activities. Consider a corporate citizenship program to create a sense of purpose and provide meaning to the work your employees do for the company. Participate in charitable programs and projects in your community. Employees that find their work to be fulfilling and meaningful are much more connected to their employer. The key to engaging and retaining the younger generation is to not only promote a welcoming and enticing company brand and culture, but to weave it into the very fabric of the organization and to ensure that every decision and action that is taken reflects your mission and values. It is that type of environment that will keep your Millennial employees – and others for that matter – feeling more passionate and committed to their work.

Recruiting Millennials: How to Bring Young Talent to Your Organization

The insurance industry is aging. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, nearly 50 percent of the industry workforce is older than 45 and only 26.67 percent of employees are under the age of 35. In order to prepare for the future and successfully build a bench of bright, young talent, insurers must focus on engaging and recruiting young professionals and recent college graduates, yet recruiting this emerging group of talented individuals is challenging. The Wall Street Journal ranked insurance 97th out of the 100 most desirable industries for college graduates. The insurance industry is seen as behind the times and offering little in terms of career development. Young professionals are looking for an industry that is fresh, exciting, edgy, modern and trendy—and insurance is falling behind. How can organizations differentiate themselves from this blighted and inaccurate view of the industry? Highlight what makes your organization desirable to the younger generation. Millennials want guidance, mentoring, a quick climb up the company ladder and a sense of purpose in their work. Showcase how your organization fulfills these workplace preferences. Foster a collaborative environment, promote mentorships, encourage new and innovative ideas and demonstrate social responsibility with volunteerism and community service projects. Remember to emphasize the perks and hot button trends that can be found within your organization. Flexible workplaces, updated technology and compensation are all among the top perks sought after by recent graduates and young professionals. Position your company as tech-savvy, cutting-edge, employee-focused and innovative. Millennials want their employers to understand the importance of updated technology, so make sure your company is in tune with what is needed for your team to function at the highest level. Any discussion about Millennials and technology is incomplete without a focus on social media. Your company must be present and engaged in social media—and using it for recruitment and engagement. If you are not, you are missing your target audience. You should have a general presence on social media sites including LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook. The younger generation leverages social media as a standard part of the job search. It is a major red flag to candidates if you do not have a social media presence. Insurers looking to attract Millennials need to re-think their workforce strategies. By updating their company image and embracing a fresh company culture, insurance organizations can combat the skills gap and talent shortage by becoming more accessible and attractive to the next generation of leadership.

Are Industry Regulations Leaving You in the Lurch?

A wave of new regulatory initiatives is hitting the life insurance industry. These reporting requirements are leading many insurers to take a deeper look at their current employees and evaluate their staffing efforts. According to a study by Towers Watson, merely 27 percent of current life insurance personnel understand the basics of these new regulatory requirements. In addition, only 13 percent of key personnel are considered experts in these new requirements and the changes they will bring. Insurance companies are looking to implement in-house training programs, as well as bring in additional staff with a better grasp of the regulatory changes and compliance needs. In cases like this, organizations often turn to subject matter experts to bolster their staff and provide much needed project assistance or to implement critical training programs. In fact, here at Jacobson we are witnessing first-hand the increased demand for contract experts with specialized knowledge and skill sets. According to our recent Semi-Annual U.S. Insurance Labor Outlook Study, 28% of life and health companies are planning to increase their use of temporary employees during the upcoming year, an increase from what was reported a year ago. For companies needing assistance with the upcoming regulatory requirements the minimal ramp-up time, quick deployment and specialized skill set offered by subject matter experts are proving attractive. How is your organization preparing for these pending changes in regulation?

Navigating the Regulatory Waters

It is my pleasure to introduce a guest blogger for this latest post. Jenn Shorr is a contract analyst here at Jacobson, administering contracts and overseeing Jacobson’s risk management program. Her insights into mandated employer benefits are worth a read. Enjoy… The past five to seven years have seen a marked increase in the number of cities, municipalities and states enacting regulations or legislation that require employers to provide a variety of benefits including: paid or unpaid sick leave, disability coverage, extended FMLA leave, and mandated healthcare assistance. There are currently ten cities, municipalities or states that require employers to provide at least some sort of employee benefit—a number that is set to increase by the end of 2014. While some of these regulations have been impacted by the implementation of the PPACA, the movement towards local mandates has been a familiar employee benefits trend. As the workplace experiences a fundamental shift with traditional employment models being modified to make room for part-time, temporary, and consulting relationships, so too has the concept of benefits eligibility and entitlement. If you currently rely on a staffing service provider, you may think these mandates don’t affect you. As the employer of record, the staffing service provider is responsible for all the fees and liabilities; right? Not so fast. Some regulations actually do address temporary employment situations or deem both the staffing provider and the client company as joint employers, even if your agreement says otherwise. As the expert in identifying, retaining and employing talent, your staffing provider should be your compliance partner. They should be aware of the regulations, have compliance and audit processes in place, and clearly spell out your role and participation in the compliance process. Understanding whether your staffing provider has sound compliance processes in place will help you avoid a potentially unknown liability. At Jacobson, we review every situation with a thorough and strategic approach. We are regularly monitoring reliable resources for regulatory updates; and, when a new requirement is enacted, we go directly to the source and read the actual regulation or legislation. Our HR and compliance team meet with our senior leadership to discuss compliance options, the challenges unique to our industry, and the anticipated financial impact. The next step is education. We educate staff members on the regulations and compliance process as it applies to their roles. We educate our clients about their participation. We educate our employees about their rights under the new law or regulation. Finally, we audit, monitor and reevaluate. Where are the communication and administration gaps? Have the regulations been updated recently? No matter how minor the change, we are on top of it. Does your staffing vendor have a process in place for handling changing laws and regulations?