The attached file contains a letter that all employees must receive either from their employer or from the benefit plan administrator of their benefit plans. If your business has 20 or more employees and offers health, disability, dental, or vision benefits, you are required to provide employees with a notice explaining their rights under COBRA. (Note: Employees are not entitled to group-term life insurance coverage provided by you once they terminate employment)

The attached document contains a chart to help you determine what kinds of work you have to pay your employees for. It's especially important to know what kinds of time and work are considered compensable if you have employees who come and go from one site to another or if you have employees who must sometimes wait for work to come from other sources. You may not always have to pay employees for waiting for work to come to them or for time spent washing up, waiting in line for checks, etc. To get the most for your payroll dollar and to make sure you're not paying employees for time that is technically not compensable, consult this detailed chart.

Whether you're thinking about offering disability benefits or you've already decided to do so, it's good to know what a typical disability policy contains. In the former instance, it provides a better picture of what obligations you will have as an employer, and what expectations you are creating among your employees. In the latter, it makes it easier to evaluate the policies that competing insurance companies will offer you. A small investment of time reviewing a typical policy can pay off big in time saved later on.