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Compensation & Benefits

Retention bonus: Stay five years, get $50,000

03/13/2012
After realizing how much it spent training new ­employees, SIB Development and Consulting in Charleston, S.C., decided to launch a novel retention bonus: If you keep your job for five years, you get $50,000.

Loan repayments tax-free to some medical professionals

03/13/2012
Under the Affordable Care Act health care reform law, doctors and nurses whose student loans are forgiven under state programs that reward those who work in underserved areas don’t have income in the amount of the debt that’s forgiven.

5 questions to help you plan now for 2019 health insurance renewal

03/12/2012
Now is the time to start laying the groundwork on your next health insurance renewal go-round. An early start will give you a fighting chance to keep costs under control in 2019.

Do-it-yourself pay audits may not be such a good idea

03/09/2012

Allowing wage-and-hour problems to fester can land you in hot water, which puts a premium on performing a self-audit of your company’s pay policies. But be aware that you may have to provide this so-called self-critical analysis to employees’ attorneys, should they sue you. Take these steps to minimize this possibility:

Austin’s HBMG agrees to repay diverted retirement funds

03/08/2012
Austin-based information technology firm HBMG and its president, Manuel Zarate, have agreed to settle a lawsuit alleging the company failed to transfer employee retirement fund contributions into its 401(k) program.

Minimum wage increase: not 2012, maybe 2013

03/08/2012
President Obama’s push to raise the minimum wage from its current $7.25 per hour to $9.50 will likely fall on deaf ears in Congress this year.

Plan for the inevitable: How to handle lost W-2s

03/06/2012

Employees call Payroll every year saying they’ve lost their W-2s. Dealing with such requests can become a time-consuming headache, especially for larger organizations. Here are some tips for managing the reissued W-2 process.

Cuyahoga expands benefits for gay workers’ children

03/05/2012
By a vote of 6-4, Cuyahoga County commissioners have approved a measure that will provide health insurance benefits to the children of gay partners of county employees.

Manage work, play with formal vacation policy

03/05/2012

Many workers routinely skip vacations, handing back to employers more than $21 billion in unused vacation time each year. In fact, vacation is good for business—it lowers employee stress and prevents burnout. Consider your vacation policy an important element of your organization’s health.

Court: No unemployment for quitting to follow spouse

03/05/2012
The Court of Appeals of Ohio has let stand a decision that denied unemployment benefits to a woman who quit her job so she could move with her husband to California.