Page 33 - BusinessWest August 31, 2020

Course of Action
Advanced Education Has Benefits for Employees and Employers
By Gabriel J. Jacobson and Ian Coddington
In addition to the obvious financial benefit to the employee, employer-funded advanced education can carry financial and soft benefits
for employers, employees, and colleagues alike. These benefits extend beyond the person who
is pursuing advanced education, as this article explains.
classes immediately to accelerate his degree track before he was officially admitted. Once he was accepted into Isenberg, he decided to remain online so he could continue working a full-time internship at Meyers Brothers Kalicka, which ultimately led to him being offered an associate position at the firm.
He attributes the combination of full-time school and full-time work to his success, claiming that
“Employers can sponsor employees with funds for academic training to build job-related skills. They may provide up to $5,250 in employer education-assistance benefits for undergraduate or graduate courses tax-free each year.”
experiencing real-world situations reminiscent of the subject matter of his classes helped cement key con- cepts related to his profession. He graduated with more than a year of real-world professional experi- ence under his belt.
The heart of online school is the flexible pace; students choose any quantity of classes each semes- ter, meaning they could offload during busy season and upload during the slow season. Some employers allocate otherwise-unassigned slow-season hours to degree-earning coursework.
With the increase in availability of online educa- tion due to the pandemic, companies can leverage this opportunity to attract talent earlier to both their and the student’s benefit.
Tax Incentives for Employers
Employers can sponsor employees with funds for academic training to build job-related skills. They may provide up to $5,250 in employer education- assistance benefits for undergraduate or graduate courses tax-free each year. To receive the benefit,
the funds must pay for tuition, fees, books, supplies, and/or equipment. As an added bonus, these funds qualify for a business deduction and are not required to pay FICA or FUTA payroll taxes.
However, the education must be legally required
for the employee to maintain their current position, or it must improve or maintain skills required for the position. One of these two stipulations must be met to satisfy the tax-free treatment.
There are limits, as these benefits are for employ- ees only, and not for spouses or dependents. Also, there is no choosing between the education benefit and a cash payment to the employee. Employers
should provide these rules and others as a writ- ten notice to employees interested in receiving the benefit.
Organizational and Culture Benefits
Outside of the financial benefits, there are workplace benefits to supporting student employ- ees. Collaborative teams are a mainstay of most successful businesses. These teams often group employees with differing niches and experi-
ence levels, so they translate directly to support- ing newer employees’ development through mentorship.
Mentorship relationships can help maintain accountability and time management for online stu- dent professionals. They can also serve as sounding boards for in-class work and discussion that reflect areas of interest to the student employee.
For example, the previously mentioned associate nurtured a mentorship relationship with his manag- er by discussing his primary interests and questions from his corporate tax class. Outside the mentor relationship, he found solidarity and motivation with peers at his level as many completed online master’s programs to advance their careers.
These relationships foster vibrant cultures of pos- itive reinforcement toward educational goals within firms all over the country. Further, this culture can extend beyond the classroom and cultivate a collab- orative and supportive work environment.
The human-capital, financial, and cultural ben- efits of incentivizing employees’ advanced education through online learning cannot be overlooked in today’s business climate. With the tools highlighted above, companies should take advantage of this opportunity. u
Gabriel J. Jacobson and Ian Coddington are associates at Holyoke-based accounting firm Meyers Brothers Kalicka, P.C.; (413) 536-8510.
GABRIEL JACOBSON
IAN CODDINGTON
More Accessible to Working Professionals
As access to online education grows, the number of professionals seeking to advance their education also increases. In 2017, one in six students enrolled entirely online, and one in three enrolled in at least one online course.
With the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic, schools around the country shut down their physi- cal locations, and students were forced to move to online learning. Now that most students have taken some form of online classes, it is likely that many will choose to continue this method of learning.
Advanced education has become more attractive to employees and employers because it is a more accessible option for working professionals. One
tax associate at Meyers Brothers Kalicka recently took advantage of the opportunity to pursue an advanced degree while continuing to work full-time. He enrolled at the Isenberg School of Management at UMass Amherst to gain a BBA in accounting and decided to remain online rather than go in-person.
Prior to making this choice, he worked full-time for a few years before deciding he wanted to earn his business degree. He enrolled in a la carte online
Mortgage
Continued from page 32
out taking a hit on their credit rating. All the mortgage professionals Busi-
nessWest spoke with said the deferral program has worked to keep delin- quencies down and allow people to stay in their homes.
“We have a strong team in place to assist our borrowers with loan defer- rals and ensure they understand their options to defer payment during this time,” said Gunsch.
Smith said that roughly 5% of Free- dom mortgage holders have taken
advantage of the deferral program. “We’re actually seeing our delinquen- cies at very low levels, lower than they’ve been in years.”
Smith added that most of the defer- ral requests occurred in April and May. With each passing month, the number of new deferrals continues to decline.
“The deferral program is work- ing the way it was intended,” Sherbo added. “It’s giving people the chance to maintain their own stability and credit.”
As for inventories, even that pic- ture may improve soon. A recent
report from the U.S. Census Bureau and Housing and Urban Development (HUD) showed new housing construc- tion starts are up more than 23.4% in July 2020 compared to July 2019. The national figure closely mirrors the Northeast, which saw a similar increase of 23.3%.
Locally, Sherbo said new home starts are relatively flat, but if inter- est rates continue at record lows, that would encourage more new construc- tion in Western Mass.
Just as no one had a crystal ball back in March, none of the mortgage
professionals we spoke with can really say what will happen six months or
a year from now. That’s the nature
of this pandemic — a high level of unpredictability.
For now, the housing market is booming at a time when few thought it would. This is good news for banks and credit unions — and for the customers they serve.
And it’s certainly one of the more intriguing stories in a year with seem- ingly no end of them. u
BusinessWest
BANKING & FINANCE
AUGUST 31, 2020 33