How Do Brokers Support Employee Benefits Compliance?

Keeping compliant with ERISA and other employee benefits laws can be difficult – but it’s crucial to your success as a business. But that’s where your employee benefits broker can step in.

Benefits brokers do more than support your employees’ health plans. They also play an essential role in helping their clients remain compliant with the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) and other benefits laws.

Here are four ways benefits brokers help their clients with ERISA compliance and other health benefits laws.

1. Answer HR leaders’ questions and provide guidance

Health insurance compliance is complicated. With laws varying from state to state (and, sometimes, city to city), HR leaders often need the help of experts – like insurance brokers – to navigate it all.

Benefits brokers should offer guidance on benefit compliance requirements, employee eligibility, and best practices in reporting on plan performance.

By acting as a resource, brokers can help HR understand what’s required of them – and keep them on track.

2. Keep clients up-to-date on new laws

The landscape of benefits compliance changes often. When a new law is passed, it can be easy to miss the memo until it is too late.

Brokers should keep clients updated on new laws and how they affect their benefits offerings. And, if a new law impacts their benefits, the broker should be ready to help their client navigate this change.

3. Reminding them of any upcoming deadlines

As complicated as compliance can be, it’s all too easy to drop the ball and miss a deadline. But forgetting a compliance deadline could lead to fines or legal penalties.

Brokers should offer some sort of tool or resource to help employers anticipate deadlines – and understand what’s required of them.

Some brokers supply compliance calendars, while others offer digital resources (like apps) to keep their clients up to speed. Whatever the method, your broker should keep you aware of deadlines.

4. Offer compliance resources

Compliance is a journey, not a destination. If you want to really understand compliance, you have to commit to continuous education. That's because the goal posts (and the requirements) may change.

Good benefits brokers give their clients access to educational tools and resources to ensure they understand what’s required of them. (And great benefits brokers will give clients access to legal professionals who specialize in ERISA law.)

Stay in-the-know with the right benefits broker

Every benefits broker has the industry experience and insider knowledge to help you stay compliant.

But the right benefits broker does what it takes to make compliance a breeze for your team.

Stay compliant with a benefits broker that caters to your small business’ unique needs. To learn more about finding a great benefits broker, schedule a call with a member of our team.