Written by Sara Martinovich, Marketing Analyst

Duler & Co. staff is looking for ways to be more involved in the community by hosting supply drives, fundraisers and volunteering at local nonprofits.  Last week, I had the privilege of volunteering at a MatchBridge event in San Francisco.

MatchBridge, a program created due to a partnership between the United Way of the Bay Area and the San Francisco Department of Children, Youth, and their Families, works to connect qualified, trained youth to entry-level jobs and internships in the private sector.  They partner with schools, youth organizations, and employers with the goal of creating a workforce that is prepared, educated, and ready to work. 

I spent Friday afternoon reviewing popular interview questions with five MatchBridge program youth participants.  We discussed strategies for attacking frequently used interview questions (why should we hire you?) as well as issues such as how to highlight their best attributes when interviewing.  The participants were engaged and asked thoughtful questions (what should I write as my expected pay on an application? What questions should I ask the interviewer?).

I found the experience to be fun and refreshing and I am looking forward to working with MatchBridge again in the future.  The MatchBridge staff and youth participants were extremely accommodating and thankful for the corporate volunteers.  

So if you are a Bay Area based business that is looking for fresh, new talent- look no further!  MatchBridge can provide you with trained, enthusiastic workers.  Contact Matthew Poland at mpoland@uwba.org for more information on how to get involved.  You can also visit their website at http://matchbridge.org.

Duler & Co. is continually seeking out new opportunities to give back to our community.  If you have an opportunity you think we may be interested in, please post it below in our comments section below.

Written by Michael J. Lamperd, Vice President, Benefits

Thinking about establishing a 401(k) plan? The Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) provides a quick checklist, which you can find below:
o Have you determined which type of 401(k) plan best suits your business?
o Have you decided whether to make contributions to the plan, and, if so, whether to make non-elective and/or matching contributions? (Remember, you may design your plan so that you may change your non-elective contributions if necessary due to business conditions.)
o Have you decided to hire a financial institution or retirement plan professional to help with setting up and running the plan?
o Have you adopted a written plan that includes the features you want to offer, such as whether participants will direct the investment of their accounts?
o Have you notified eligible employees and provided them with information to help in their decision making?
o Have you arranged a trust fund for the plan assets or will you set up the plan solely with insurance contracts?
o Have you developed a recordkeeping system?
o Are you familiar with the fiduciary responsibilities?
o Are you prepared to monitor the plan’s service providers?
o Are you familiar with the reporting and disclosure requirements of a 401(k) plan?
For more about establishing and operating a 401(k) plan, click here. In addition, our Duler & Co. staff experts can provide you additional information and a consultation on establishing retirement plans for your company.

Questions posted in the comments will be answered by our expert staff.

Written by Michael J. Lamperd, Vice President, Benefits

Employers, as plan sponsors of your employee benefit plans, are you ready for the health care reform changes for 2012?

Starting in 2012, plan summaries must have consistent contents and formatting. For fully insured plans, the plan issuer must provide a compliant paper or electronic summary at certain times in the enrollment process. Also, the plan issuer must provide a 60-day notice for material modifications to plan benefits.

Duler and Company advises that you take appropriate internal administrative steps now to assure that you are in compliance. You need to consider changing the timeline as you approach your plan renewals.

Although it is going to be the law in 2012, it is also the best human resources practice to advise your employees 60 days in advance of any change to your benefit plans, whether it is a benefit modification, a cost-share change or any other change that affects their pocketbook or access to health care.

Some of the 2012 changes include:

• Uniform explanation of coverage
• Pre-enrollment document explaining benefits and exclusions
• 60-day notice for material modifications in your plans (if not provided in the uniform explanation of coverage)

For all your benefit needs, please contact our expert staff for additional consultation on how these changes will affect your company.