Skip to main content
Join Now

< Back to All

Avoid A Common and Costly Compliance Mistake

November 9, 2022

Many small business owners aren’t aware that if they offer a group health insurance plan, it is their legal responsibility to provide their insured employees with a Summary Plan Description (SPD).

An SPD is a required legal document that describes the rights and responsibilities of both the employer and employee under a group benefit plan by providing detailed information about the health plan itself. This document must be provided to insured employees within 120 days after the group plan is established. Failure to do so could cost the company $171 per day in Department of Labor (DOL) fines.

We have you covered! As an SBAM member, you can login to your member profile and enter your basic plan information into our SPD template. The complete, compliant SPD will be emailed to you, ready for distribution to your insured employees. This service is available to you regardless of which health insurance carrier you have. Cost varies based on membership level and whether you’re enrolled in an SBAM sponsored Blues plan. Visit sbam.org/summary for details.

SBAM offers many compliance-related services in addition to the SPD document. Our team manages all matters relating to COBRA administration on behalf of members enrolled in the program – starting at only $35 per month with no initial set-up fees. Your personal COBRA Coordinator sends all necessary letters and notifications, provides your company with a monthly activity report and online access to your account, and collects premium payments from the COBRA-enrolled beneficiaries.

Our partner, American Society of Employers (ASE) can help with employee handbooks, drug screening & background checks, and offers our members an online Ask an Expert web portal that you can rely on for fact-based answers to your HR and compliance questions.

75% of small businesses switch payroll providers at the end of the calendar year.  Our payroll solutions provider, Ahola, is ready to help you make the switch to a better provider today! Switch now for free and get a 2-year price lock, free W2s for all your employees, and discounted set-up fees when you purchase additional products. Ahola’s isolved technology easily scales to include time tracking, benefits enrollment, applicant tracking and onboarding. All the critical functions are in one database, so you no longer have to deal with exporting, importing or clunky integrations.

Visit sbam.org/member-benefits/staycompliant for a list of all the programs and services available to you. Contact Kellie Neirynck at kellie.neirynck@sbam.org or 517.267.2206 if you have any questions.

Share On: