Would your employees like to receive double unemployment benefits and fully paid uninterrupted medical insurance during the seasonal layoff?

As I prepared to get dressed this morning I checked the temperature and decided to grab a sweater and socks. Most of our clients, at least the ones who work outside, are preparing to shut down for the next few months. The good news for our clients is that their employees will be receiving double unemployment benefits and their medical insurance coverage will continue uninterrupted — without them needing to make payments under COBRA.

How?

Our clients contribute prevailing wage fringe benefit supplements for their employees to our qualified bona fide benefit trust – The Direct Advisors Trust. The trust provides benefits such as medical, dental, life and disability insurance, health savings accounts, apprentice training, paid time off, supplemental unemployment and retirement benefits.

For our clients with seasonal layoffs, we design the plan to budget savings for the layoff so that benefits will continue uninterrupted for the employees. It’s great for the employees and their families but it’s also a huge time savings in administration for the office staff since we eliminate most of the work related to benefit interruption (COBRA notices, collecting payments, etc.).

It gets better!

By including a supplemental unemployment benefit plan as one of the bona fide benefit offerings through our trust, employees will receive payments each week in addition to their state unemployment benefits. These payments typically match the amount they are receiving for regular unemployment benefits and do not reduce or affect the amount they receive from the state in any way.

Could it get any better?

It sure can, because supplemental unemployment benefits paid from our trust are exempt from FICA taxes. That’s a 7.65% savings for both the employee and the employer!

You can learn more about various strategies by reading  Working the Fringe and Harnessing the Power.  Please also view our short animated video, to see how constructing a bona fide fringe benefit plan, can move prevailing wage dollars out of payroll and reduce associated costs.

About Us
Direct Advisors, LLC, established in 2001 and located in Albany, New York, provides bona fide benefit plan consulting and third-party administrative services to merit shop (non-union) construction companies that are subject to the Davis-Bacon Act and state prevailing wage regulations. Our clients are located throughout the United States.

This article was originally published on January 14, 2015. It has since been revised.

Author: Jeff Bennett