Compliance glossary
The terms behind the dates
Plain-language definitions of the acronyms and forms that run the compliance year — each linked to the deadlines that use it.
- Applicable Large EmployerALE
- An employer that averaged 50 or more full-time and full-time-equivalent employees in the prior calendar year. ALEs are subject to the ACA's employer-mandate reporting (Forms 1094-C and 1095-C).
- ACA Form 1095-C Distribution to Employees →ACA Forms 1094-C / 1095-C IRS Filing →IRS — Determining if an employer is an ALE
- OSHA 300 Log
- The OSHA Form 300 — a 'Log of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses' that covered employers use to record each recordable workplace injury or illness during the year.
- Begin New OSHA 300 Log →OSHA 300A Posting Begins →OSHA — Recordkeeping forms
- OSHA 300A Summary300A
- The annual 'Summary of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses' that covered employers must post in a visible location from February 1 through April 30 each year, even when there were no recordable cases.
- OSHA 300A Posting Begins →OSHA 300A Posting Ends →OSHA — Injury & illness recordkeeping
- Injury Tracking ApplicationITA
- OSHA's online portal through which covered establishments electronically submit their injury and illness data (Forms 300, 300A, and 301) by the annual March 2 deadline.
- OSHA Electronic Submission Deadline →OSHA — Injury Tracking Application
- EEO-1 ReportEEO-1
- A mandatory annual workforce-demographics report (Component 1) filed with the EEOC by private employers with 100+ employees and certain federal contractors, broken down by job category, sex, and race/ethnicity.
- EEO-1 Report Filing Deadline →EEOC — EEO-1 survey
- Form 5500
- The annual return/report for ERISA-covered employee benefit plans, filed electronically through EFAST2. For calendar-year plans it is due July 31.
- Form 5500 Filing Deadline →DOL — Form 5500
- EFAST2
- The Department of Labor's electronic filing system for Form 5500 series annual reports. Nearly all benefit-plan filings must be submitted through EFAST2.
- Form 5500 Filing Deadline →DOL — EFAST2
- Form 1095-C
- The ACA statement an Applicable Large Employer furnishes to each full-time employee describing the health coverage offered. Due to employees in early March.
- ACA Form 1095-C Distribution to Employees →ACA Forms 1094-C / 1095-C IRS Filing →IRS — About Form 1095-C
- Family and Medical Leave ActFMLA
- A federal law that entitles eligible employees of covered employers to unpaid, job-protected leave for specified family and medical reasons. Covered employers must display the FMLA general-notice poster.
- FMLA Poster Requirement (Ongoing) →DOL — FMLA
- Creditable Coverage (Medicare Part D)
- Prescription drug coverage that is, on average, at least as generous as standard Medicare Part D. Employers offering drug coverage must notify Medicare-eligible individuals of its creditable status before October 15 each year.
- Medicare Part D Creditable Coverage Notice →CMS — Creditable coverage
- General Duty Clause
- Section 5(a)(1) of the OSH Act, which requires employers to provide a workplace free from recognized hazards likely to cause death or serious harm — OSHA's basis for citing hazards (like heat or workplace violence) that lack a specific standard.
- OSHA Heat Illness Prevention Campaign →Workplace Violence Awareness Month →OSHA — General Duty Clause
- Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights ActUSERRA
- A federal law protecting the civilian jobs of people who serve in the uniformed services, requiring reemployment after service and prohibiting discrimination based on military obligations.
- Employer Support of Guard and Reserve Week →DOL — USERRA