NRA Offers Restaurateurs Tool to Notify Employees about Health Care Marketplaces

Online tool can help restaurateurs meet Oct. 1 notification deadline

September 5, 2013 – (Washington, D.C.) The National Restaurant Association has launched a new tool to help restaurateurs notify employees about new government-run health insurance marketplaces.

The online employee-notification tool, available at Restaurant.org/Notify, is designed to help employers meet an Oct. 1 federal deadline to notify employees about government-run health insurance exchanges.

“As changes begin to unfold under the health care law in the coming weeks and months, the National Restaurant Association will continue to expand the resources and tools we provide to help our members navigate the complexities of the law,” said Phil Kafarakis, Chief Innovations and Member Advancement Officer, National Restaurant Association.

The online tool is available exclusively to National Restaurant Association members as a benefit of membership.

Among other provisions, the health care law creates a new section of the Fair Labor Standards Act that require employers to provide existing employees with basic information about exchanges by Oct. 1, including letting employees know they may be eligible for federal tax subsidies to buy health plans through exchanges. The mandate applies to all employers covered by the FLSA. Starting in 2014, employers will be required to provide employees with the FLSA notice within 14 days of hiring, according to the Department of Labor.

Exchanges are set to open in every state on Oct. 1 to begin offering millions of Americans new options for buying health insurance for 2014.

The National Restaurant Association’s Notification Tool offers online registration that guides an employer through the law’s required information process so that all employees can be properly notified when they access the site.

“Members who register to use the tool can create online portals to tell their employees about exchanges, track which employees they’ve notified, and keep on- and offline records to document which employees have received the notice,” Kafarakis added.

The Notification Tool is part of the National Restaurant Association’s Health Care Reform Headquarters. The one-stop shop offers NRA members information about how the law affects restaurant businesses, including a Health Care Law Primer that covers key aspects of the law for restaurant employers. The Health Care Reform Headquarters will later offer a marketplace to help restaurant employers and employees shop for Affordable Care Act-compliant health plans.

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Founded in 1919, the National Restaurant Association is the leading business association for the restaurant industry, which comprises 980,000 restaurant and foodservice outlets and a workforce of more than 13 million employees. We represent the industry in Washington, D.C., and advocate on its behalf. We operate the industry’s largest trade show (NRA Show May 17-20, 2014, in Chicago); leading food safety training and certification program (ServSafe); unique career-building high school program (the NRAEF’s ProStart); as well as the Kids LiveWell program promoting healthful kids’ menu options. For more information, visit www.restaurant.org and find us on Twitter @WeRRestaurants, Facebook and YouTube.

Restaurant Owners Need Flexibility in Health Care Law Reporting Requirements

(November 7, 2013) The National Restaurant Association today reiterated its support of a streamlined reporting process for employer-sponsored health plans, noting that a simplified structure would minimize the chances of employees being forced to repay tax credits for which eligibility was inaccurately determined, as well as reduce unnecessary administrative burdens on employers.

The NRA is a leader of the Employers for Flexibility in Health Care Coalition (E-FLEX), a coalition of trade associations and businesses in the restaurant, retail, hospitality, supermarket, construction, temporary staffing and other service-related industries working together for more flexibility for employers as the health care law is implemented. The coalition filed comments with the Internal Revenue Service about the agency’s recent proposed regulation on reporting requirements for employers offering health plans.

As the Administration finalizes those regulations, the E-FLEX Coalition urged the Administration “to offer options for streamlined reporting processes that are viable for employers with differing workforces.”

“The E-Flex Coalition believes a less expansive approach to information reporting can achieve the same ends with fewer burdens to the IRS and employers who voluntarily provide health coverage without giving rise to any adverse effects for individuals,” E-FLEX members wrote in their official comments. “Utilizing a certification method is a reasonable approach that could be used as the basis for a simplified reporting process that could benefit employers of all sizes and structures.”

The Coalition noted that a certification method could help “minimize the number of employees subjected to repayment of advanced premium assistance tax credits for which eligibility was inaccurately determined, as well as reduce unnecessary administration burden while facilitating the simplified administration of the employer responsibility provisions.”

“The E-Flex Coalition does not see the collection on data on every employee and their dependents covered in an employer-sponsored plan as intrinsically improving the administration of the ACA’s premium tax credits and employer tax penalties,” the Coalition added.

The proposed regulations detail what information large employers will be required to file starting in 2016 with both the IRS and full-time employees about health care coverage the employer offered in 2015. Among other information, a new Section 6056 of the Internal Revenue Code requires large employers to provide a list of full-time employees, the coverage offered to each, by month, and the cost of self-only coverage. A separate Section 6055 will require insurers, self-insuring employers and other parties that provide coverage to detail the months individuals were covered by health plans, among other data. The IRS will use the data to verify compliance with the health care law’s individual and employer mandates.

Since 2011, the NRA and E-Flex Coalition partners have encouraged the Treasury Department and IRS to adopt employer reporting rules that minimize the prospects of employees being subject to repayment of advanced premium tax credits and to mitigate the recordkeeping and reporting burdens on employers.

The NRA continues to educate restaurant employers of their requirements under the law and that they will need systems in place next year to determine employees’ hours of service in 2014, so they know whether the business will be covered by the employer mandate in 2015, and then based on these proposed rules, be able to track eligible employee and dependent data, tabulated by calendar month, for coverage offers in 2015. Large employers will be required to file the first information reports about 2015 coverage in January 2016.

AH&LA Statement on House Republican Draft Immigration Standards

The American Hotel & Lodging Association (AH&LA), the sole national association representing all segments of the 1.8 million-employee lodging industry, issued the following statement on the draft immigration reform principles offered today by House Republican leadership:

“This country’s existing immigration system is broken and cannot adequately meet the demands of our 21st century economy, and the time for action is now,” said Katherine Lugar, AH&LA president/CEO.  “The draft principles issued today by House Republican leaders are an important development in addressing what the lodging industry recognizes will be a multi-step process in fixing these problems.  We are encouraged by the signs of action in the House of Representatives and look forward to working collaboratively with members from both sides of the aisle in passing much-needed reform.  There is a long way to go on hammering out details, but this draft is a crucial step in the process.”

Immigration reform is one of AH&LA’s top priorities for 2014 as outlined in the association’s recently-issued “Pro-Growth Policy Agenda for 2014.”  In particular, the lodging industry is seeking reforms that:

  • Establish a process to identify, screen, fine, and place in probationary status those undocumented workers currently in the U.S.;
  • Ensure that any new employment verification system is effective, efficient, and fair;
  • Strengthen the H-2B temporary worker program;
  • Create a new lesser-skilled temporary worker program that allows non-agricultural employers to obtain workers when American workers are unavailable; and
  • Include the provisions of the Jobs Originated Through Launching Travel (JOLT) Act to streamline visa processing and expand the number of countries participating in the Visa Waiver Program.

The U.S. lodging industry is a strong driver of jobs and economic growth, currently employing 1.8 million hotel property workers and paying $200.9 billion in travel-related wages and salaries.  The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects lodging will create more than 141,000 new jobs by 2020, and hoteliers are concerned over continuing difficulties in finding enough U.S. workers to fill these jobs.  It is anticipated the problem will become more acute as the economy recovers, despite the good wages and growth opportunity afforded by the industry.

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Serving the hospitality industry for more than a century, the American Hotel & Lodging Association (AH&LA) is the sole national association representing all segments of the 1.8 million-employee U.S. lodging industry, including hotel owners, REITs, chains, franchisees, management companies, independent properties, state hotel associations, and industry suppliers. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., AH&LA provides focused advocacy, communications support, and educational resources for an industry generating $155.5 billion in annual sales from 4.9 million guestrooms.

CBO Report: Minimum Wage Bill Would Cost Jobs

The National Restaurant Association today released the following statement in response to a Congressional Budget Office report, which found raising the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour could reduce employment by an estimated 500,000 workers in 2016.

“The CBO report is further evidence that an increase in the minimum wage such as the one proposed in the Harkin/Miller bill would significantly limit the entry-level opportunities businesses can provide, hurting employees with limited skills or experience and looking to enter the workforce—the very workers who need these opportunities most,” said Scott DeFife, EVP, Policy and Government Affairs, National Restaurant Association.

“A minimum wage increase is not a real, comprehensive solution to poverty and the problems of income inequality in this country. There is no clearer example of that than in the restaurant industry, where the vast majority of people who make the minimum wage are working part-time, and are teens or young adults who are likely to be supplementing a family income.

“Other necessary reforms—such as increased access to education and job training opportunities—are far more proven, effective and targeted ways to help people in poverty and will have a more meaningful impact on an individual’s earning potential.

“The restaurant industry provides real pathways to the middle class and beyond, and dramatic increases in the minimum wage will only hinder our ability to provide stepping stones for those who need it most.”

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Founded in 1919, the National Restaurant Association is the leading business association for the restaurant industry, which comprises 990,000 restaurant and foodservice outlets and a workforce of more than 13.5 million employees. We represent the industry in Washington, D.C., and advocate on its behalf. We operate the industry’s largest trade show (NRA Show May 17-20, 2014, in Chicago); leading food safety training and certification program (ServSafe); unique career-building high school program (the NRAEF’s ProStart); as well as the Kids LiveWell program promoting healthful kids’ menu options. For more information, visit www.restaurant.org and find us on Twitter @WeRRestaurants, Facebook and YouTube.

OSHA Issues New Rule on Injury and Illness Reporting and Recordkeeping

Recently, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) announced new requirements for reporting severe injuries and record-keeping. Click here for the full news release. These new requirements will go into effect January 1, 2015. The final rule has revised the requirements for reporting work-related fatalities, injuries, and illnesses – now requiring employers to report hospitalizations, amputations, and losses of an eye.

For more information about the new rule, visit OSHA’s website at http://www.osha.gov/recordkeeping2014.

Industry News 4

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Industry News 3

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Industry News Two

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Tallahassee Restaurants to Offer Fantastic Food at Mouth-Watering Prices During Capital Cuisine Restaurant Week and Concert Series May 14-26

Media Contact:

Elizabeth Ray
FRLA Communications Director
850.224.2250 x255
[email protected]

(Tallahassee, Fla.) – The Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association (FRLA) is delighted to partner with Visit Tallahassee and VISIT FLORIDA for the fourth annual Capital Cuisine Restaurant Week and Concert Series, May 14 – 26, 2015. During the 13-day event, fresh seafood, farm-to-table creations, fusion fare and tasty tapas will be showcased on multi-course prix fixe menus starting at $15 for lunch and $30 for dinner at many of the area’s local restaurants. In addition to the mouth-watering restaurant specials, Tallahassee will be the backdrop to musical performances held throughout the Week.

“Capital Cuisine Week is a great way for Tallahassee restaurants to show off what this great city has to offer to the palettes of residents and visitors alike,” said Carol Dover, President and CEO of the Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association. “Tallahassee’s culinary offerings continue to expand, and this event provides participants unique and diverse dining experiences in which to showcase our member restaurants.”

Last year, more than two dozen establishments participated in the event, and FRLA sponsored three concerts attended by hundreds of Tallahasseans. This year promises even more participation of both restaurateurs and residents who have been wanting to try local fare.

FRLA urges restaurant owners and chefs to join this unique experience. To learn how you can get involved, please contact FRLA’s Northwest Florida Regional Director Ray Green at 850-545-5901 or by e-mail at [email protected]. You may also contact Visit Tallahassee’s Marketing Communications Director Lauren Shoaf Pace at 850-606-2322 or by e-mail at [email protected].

For additional information such as participating restaurants and their menus, visit http://www.visittallahassee.com/capital-cuisine-restaurant-week-concert-series.

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About the Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association
FRLA is Florida’s premier non-profit hospitality industry trade association. Our mission is to ‘Protect, Educate and Promote’ Florida’s $76.1 billion hospitality industry which represents 23% of Florida’s economy, $4.6 billion in sales tax revenue, and more than one million employees – making it the state’s number one industry. We offer regulatory compliance and food safety training needs (RCS and SafeStaff®); industry developed career-building high school programs (FRLAEF); sponsor the only event in Florida exclusively serving the restaurant and foodservice industry (FR&L Show, October 6-8, 2015 in Orlando); and we safeguard the needs of the hospitality industry by providing legislative advocacy. We represent and serve more than 10,000 independent and household name members, suppliers, and theme parks. For more information, go to www.FRLA.org and find us on Twitter @FRLAnews, Facebook and YouTube. – See more at: http://frla.org/frla-news/item/1537–tallahassee-restaurants-to-offer-fantastic-food-at-mouth-watering-prices-during-capital-cuisine-restaurant-week-and-concert-series-may-14-26#sthash.Nv5bSx9p.dpuf