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Compensation & Benefits

High-level managers have pay discretion? You’re courting a class-action lawsuit

11/26/2013
Broad discretion about compensation at the bottom of the pay scale usually prevents employees from pursuing a class-action lawsuit similar to the one in the Supreme Court’s 2011 landmark Wal-Mart v. Dukes case. However, all bets are off if the issue is pay for higher-level employees.

IRS OKs dropping health FSA ‘use-it-or-lose-it’

11/26/2013
The IRS has announced that employers sponsoring health flexible spending arrangements can drop long-standing “use-it-or-lose-it” rules that require employees to forfeit FSA funds if they don’t claim reimbursements by the end of a plan year.

Don’t let year-end duties ruin your Thanksgiving dinner

11/25/2013
Take a few minutes now to run down this Payroll checklist and your Thanksgiving feast will be unperturbed.

Payroll 2014: You’ll withhold something, but what, exactly, we don’t know

11/22/2013
The shutdown of the federal government earlier this autumn meant that the IRS was very late in releasing the 2014 personal exemption amount, which doubles as the annual withholding allowance amount. Also late, but now in the bag: the 2014 amounts for qualified transportation fringes.

Ex-worker didn’t return property: Can we tap his PTO?

11/22/2013
Q. After an employee quit, he failed to return certain company property (badge, access card, etc.). Can we legally withhold his PTO balance because of this? 

4 steps to motivate employees to start saving for retirement

11/21/2013

Benefits professionals struggle constantly to convince employees they need to start saving for retirement. Snap them back to reality by helping them figure out exactly how much they need to sock away to pay for their needs once they stop working. Walk employees through this savings calculation the next time you talk up your 401(k) or 403(b) plan.

Debt threatens employees’ readiness to retire

11/20/2013
In a recent survey of participants in employer-sponsored defined-contribution retirement plans, more than 60% of households reported that they are accumulating debt faster than they are saving for retirement. The culprit: credit card debt.

Bypass Healthcare.gov: Small employers can buy health insurance through brokers

11/19/2013

The Healthcare.gov website may be broken, but that doesn’t mean small business owners who want to buy health insurance for their employees have to wait. They can learn about coverage options, costs and available tax credits by working with an insurance broker who has registered with CMS to facilitate SHOP policy sales.

Unclear rules could warrant unemployment benefits

11/19/2013
Someone who is fired for breaking a workplace rule isn’t entitled to unemployment benefits. That’s because rule-breaking is misconduct. But if the rule is unclear, all bets are off.

No unemployment if jail prevents coming to work

11/19/2013
You can terminate an employee for missing work because he had to spend the night in jail. He won’t be eligible for unemployment benefits because the firing was for misconduct related to regular attendance.