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Compensation & Benefits

DOL offers guidance on health plan rebates

01/24/2012

Federal rules that took effect Jan. 1 require group health insurers to spend 80% to 85% of every premium dollar on medical care and health-care quality improvement. Insurers that fall short must start paying rebates to insurance plan participants, starting Aug. 1. Now the DOL has clarified how those rebates should be disbursed.

Nontraditional benefits set ‘best and brightest’ apart

01/23/2012
Health insurance and flextime aren’t the only perks employees consider benefits. Most of the companies that won “Best and Brightest” awards from the National Association for Business Re­­sources earned accolades from their employees for these offerings:

California Supreme Court clarifies administrative employee exemption

01/20/2012
The California Supreme Court has issued a long-awaited decision in a case addressing the “administrative/production worker” dichotomy in determining if an employee meets the requirements for the administrative employee exemption from overtime under the California Wage Orders.

Consider more time off as reasonable accommodation

01/20/2012
Sometimes, employees develop medical problems and use up their available leave under the FMLA or other leave programs before they get a definitive diagnosis. Think about offering them additional time off.

Take 10: How to handle the California Labor Code mandate to provide midshift breaks

01/20/2012
California’s Labor Code requires employers to give covered em­­ployees a 10-minute break or rest period during each four-hour work period. Many em­­ployers have wondered how far they have to go to make sure employees take their breaks …

Set formal schedule for off-hours meetings

01/20/2012
California employees who report to work and then are sent home are generally entitled to at least a partial payment for that day. If you regularly have mandatory workplace meetings that fall outside some employees’ regular workday, consider scheduling those meetings for a specific time period. As the following case shows, that could save some money.

When can worker take 401(k) hardship distribution?

01/20/2012
Q. An employee’s spouse has become disabled. Even though this employee is younger than 59½, he’d like to take a distribution out of his 401(k) account. Can we accommodate him?

Indiana experiments with pay for performance

01/19/2012
Pressured to demonstrate that they’re responsible stewards of tax dollars, states have begun to experiment with variable pay for government employees. Indiana is pointing the way …

Health insurance premium penalties are taking hold

01/18/2012
Premium penalties tied to health problems are on the rise, according to a study by Towers Watson and the National Business Group on Health. In 2012, nearly 40% of larger employers plan to penalize employees who don’t participate in wellness programs, or for not meeting certain health goals.

6 factors that determine independent contractor status

01/17/2012

Today’s tight economy has prompted many employers to try to reduce costs—including overtime—by classifying workers as independent contractors instead of employees. That hasn’t escaped the notice of the IRS and the U.S. Department of Labor, which have stepped up efforts to deter misclassification.