I've heard that many businesses are required to tell their employees about health insurance options before October 1, but I'm not sure 1) if this requirement applies to my business, 2) what exactly I'm supposed to tell my employees, and 3) whether this means that I need to decide this month whether to offer coverage in 2014?

VermontHealthConnect.gov can help you answer all three questions.  First of all, yes, the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) requires applicable employers to provide employees with a written notice of their health insurance coverage options by October 1, 2013. Our Employee Notices page explains which businesses are subject to the requirement.

Regarding what the notice needs to include, our Employee Notices page has a list of requirements as well as links to sample notices for you to download and adapt.

Finally, rest assured that you are not are not required to declare if you will be offering insurance in 2014, only what you are currently offering. While we encourage you to make your decision about 2014 coverage over the course of the next several weeks in order to give your employees plenty of time to make their decisions, you certainly don't have to make this decision by October 1 and you are not required by the FLSA to do so.
 

FLSA Employee Notices: healthconnect.vermont.gov/notices

More Vermont Health Connect FAQs: healthconnect.vermont.gov/about_us/faq