Compensation & Benefits

Good news and bad news from the feds

12/27/2011

Good news: A new EBSA website offers valuable information you can use to educate your employees about their benefits. Bad news: One of EBSA’s goals for the new site is to make it easier for employees to file complaints about their benefits.

Airline’s ‘Customer Cup’ prompts friendly competition

12/22/2011

American Airlines recognizes employees at five airports each quarter to promote friendly competition for better customer service. “Customer Cup” awards are categorized by market size, from largest to smallest stations according to flight activity.

Beware management push-back on HR decisions

12/21/2011

As an HR professional, you may come across employment practices that you think violate the law. What you do with that concern and how you express it may make the difference between engaging in protected activity or not—and by extension, whether you can sue for retaliation if upper management punishes you.

Create time sheets in MS Excel

12/21/2011

It’s easy to set up a simple time sheet in Microsoft Excel. All MS Excel versions have a “Time Card” template with the basics.

How flexible is starting pay in your organization?

12/20/2011

Most employers offer at least some flexibility to tweak starting pay.

IRS: Cellphone/smartphone rules apply to tablets, too

12/20/2011

According to the IRS, the same rules that apply to employees’ tax-free use of cellphones and smartphones also apply to tablets, such as iPads.

What are the new FMLA rules affecting federal employees?

12/19/2011

Q. We’ve heard that federal employees’ FMLA rights have recently expanded. Can you tell us about this?

The dozen leave laws California employers must know

12/16/2011

Dealing with the multitude of federal and state laws governing leaves of absence in California can leave employers feeling lost and disoriented—and expose even the most well-intentioned employer to liability. The best prevention is education.

2012 tax rates: It always pays to plan ahead

12/16/2011

Employees can take a lot of the guesswork out of their 2012 income tax liability by ensuring that their W-4s are accurate. Those who need to file new forms due to changes in their personal finances now have the inflation-adjusted figures on which to base those decisions.

How to cut your 2012 unemployment compensation taxes

12/15/2011

States, which need to repay the federal loans they took out last year to pay regular unemployment benefits, are slapping tax surcharges on experience-rated employers. But if you’re willing to budget just a little bit more to pay so-called voluntary contributions, you may actually come out ahead.