How many employees do you have? Depends on who's asking.

Benefits administration is growing ever more complicated, as we were reminded in a blog post by the National Association of Health Underwriters this week entitled “Counting Employees…not as easy as 1, 2, 3.”  The post outlines a number of different ways employees are counted under a variety of laws and programs. While you may have 124 employees for COBRA, under the ACA, that number jumps to 137. And your numbers for FMLA, PCORI and Medicare could be different still.

Part timers are included in some, but not others. When you count and how you average will vary. And, it’s important to keep track and be accurate because penalties can be steep and accumulate if the problem isn’t detected and corrected.

Make your head hurt? Ours too. That’s why we’re sharing The Benefits Academy’s handy Employee Count Cheat Sheet that outlines the most common “countable” regulations: what the requirements are, what employers are affected and what method is used to make sure you capture all applicable employees.

​But, most importantly, We are also a great resource for you! So, before you get too frustrated, please pick up the phone or shoot us an email. Getting the right count is important and we’re here to help!