ASE’s 3rd Annual Compensation and Benefits Conference

This fast-paced, half-day program will provide the valuable insights you need to meet the important challenges facing total rewards professionals today!

From the “New Normal” to “Obamacare,” today’s total rewards professionals need to rethink how they reward, motivate and retain talent. ASE’s Compensation and Benefits Conference offers insight into the best practices of effective total rewards management.  If you are responsible for managing any aspect of your organization's compensation and benefits program, you will want to attend this event.

What’s in it for you?

At ASE’s Compensation and Benefits Conference, you will be able to:

• Learn effective compensation and benefit strategies from our lineup of speakers
• Network with your peers and subject matter experts in the field of total rewards
• Identify ways to make a meaningful impact on your organization’s bottom line
• And of course, be the first to hear the results of ASE’s 2013 compensation surveys

For more information on this event, contact Kevin Marrs at 248.223.8025.

This program has been approved for 3.25 HRCI recertification credits.
 

Health Reform and Your Business: What to Expect Through 2017

Don Whitford, Vice President, East Region, Priority Health

The Affordable Care Act has forever changed employer-sponsored insurance. Beginning on Jan. 1, 2014, employers with 50 or more employees must offer health benefits to their full-time employees or pay a penalty. Employers with fewer than 50 employees can purchase coverage from a new marketplace called the Exchange.

What do employers need to know to prepare for the changes coming in 2014 and beyond? This keynote, led by Don Whitford, vice president of Priority Health, will provide answers to the big questions facing employers. These include:

• What exactly did the Supreme Court ruling mean?
• What factors should employers weigh in determining whether or not they’ll provide benefits?
• Will my company face a penalty if we don’t offer health benefits?
• Will my employees face a penalty if they don’t have health benefits?
• What must my employee benefit plan include?
• How will the exchanges work and is an exchange right for my business?
• Will employees benefit from purchasing coverage through an exchange?
• Will health care be more affordable beginning in 2014?
• How will health plans be priced in 2014?
• What changes are coming after 2014’s major reforms?
• What will the health insurance market look like in the future?
• What new products or concepts will be available to help control the cost of health care?

Don Whitford is the vice president of Priority Health. He oversees the East Region, a geographic area including southeastern Michigan and stretching east to Michigan's Thumb. He is responsible for the long-term strategic development of all market segments in the East Region.

With more than 30 years of experience, as well as a deep knowledge of the Southeast Michigan market, Don leads a team responsible for expanding Priority Health's presence in the region through the development and implementation of sales, marketing and product development strategies. He is responsible for the company's community initiatives in Southeast Michigan, including initiatives designed to increase visibility in this key region.

ASE's Compensation and Benefits Conference will consist of a Keynote Presentation and two sets of breakout sessions.  Attendees can attend one session in each set of breakouts.

First Breakout Session Set

Optimizing Total Rewards
Pam Hein, Partner and National Rewards Communication Leader
Darryl Roberts, Associate Partner, Talent and Rewards

Rewards are a major investment for organizations, but the evidence shows that most do not get full value for that investment. In this session Aon Hewitt's Pam Hein and Darryl Roberts will talk about innovative approaches that help organizations increase the ROI on their investment in rewards - increasing employee engagement and retention with the same or lower total spend - and increase employee understanding and appreciation of their rewards. This session will outline a new framework for evaluating and designing Total Rewards and illustrate a variety of new and creative ways to more effectively reach and engage employees in their Total Rewards.

Wage & Hour Compliance: Avoiding the Landmines
Robert A. Boonin, Shareholder, Butzel Long, PC

Lawsuits and DOL audits for unpaid overtime are booming locally and across the nation.  This session will provide an overview of the recent enforcement trends and initiatives, as well as areas employers is too commonly being found to have inadvertently violated the law.

Increasing Retirement Plan Participation
Joseph Danatzko - Business Retirement Plan Specialist
Howard Stoller - Financial Advisor
Chris Burke - Financial Advisor

With many company pensions either being limited or eliminated altogether, today’s employees now have the onus of funding their own retirement.  However, many employees are unaware of where to begin and or the amount of diligence it takes to fund retirement.  Merrill Lynch Business Retirement Plan Specialist, Joseph Danatzko, along with Merrill Lynch Financial Advisors, Howard Stoller and Chris Burke, will discuss methodologies to increase plan participation rates to help employees meet their goals. In doing so, Joseph, Howard, and Chris will cite specific examples of how they have increased the participation rates of their clients through education, planning, and effective communication with the employees.

Second Breakout Session Set

Pay Trends:  ASE’s 2013 Compensation Survey Results
Kevin L. Marrs, Director, Survey Services

Michigan has steadily recovered from the economic turmoil of the Great Recession. But, despite the recovery, employment growth has been lackluster.  What does this mean for the compensation rates and practices for local employers?  Which jobs or job families are experiencing the most significant increase, which are in decline?  This session will report the results of the ASE Compensation Surveys, the surveys Michigan employers have relied on for over 50 years. 

Weaving Your Way Through Common Employee Benefit Plan Audit And Compliance Pitfalls
Carrie Mendoza, CPA – Assurance Associate, Plante Moran
Janice Wargo – Employee Benefit Consulting Associate, Plante Moran

Time and again regulators see the same errors in plan administration. We will discuss some of the most common compliance, fiduciary, and organizational pitfalls with suggestions on how to prevent errors from happening or how to rectify the situation when they do happen. We will cover topics like: key internal controls, plan document compliance, correction programs, and contribution timeliness.

Purchasing Value in Health Care: Best Practices to Address Health Reform
Janet Vermeulen, Senior Consultant, Towers Watson

With the election results and Supreme Court decision now behind us, health care reform is a reality and will move forward.  Individuals, employers, health plans and delivery systems will all be impacted.  To help employers determine the most effective health care practices and learn what changes companies are making to reshape the health care experience under the new law, Towers Watson surveyed more than 500 employers in the 18th Annual Towers Watson/National Business Group on Health Employer Survey on Purchasing Value in Health Care. This presentation will share the outcomes of this research and provide insights into best practices for responding to the changes ahead and achieving desirable outcomes.