ASE recently released its 2024-2025 Salary Budget Survey, offering a comprehensive view of salary trends, pay structure adjustments, and incentive-based compensation programs among employers. This data provides key insights into the challenges businesses face in an uncertain economic environment.

Earlier this year the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued final regulations setting a new salary level test for determining job exempt status. To classify a job as exempt from overtime and certain record keeping compliance requirements, a job typically must meet three tests:

Since the Michigan Supreme Court ruled the process of adopt and amend to be unconstitutional earlier this summer, employers have been faced with the prospect of complying with two problematic employment laws early next year. Michigan’s minimum wage law and the paid sick leave law will change back to the original ballot initiatives passed back in 2018 on February 21, 2025. 

Corporate donation matching programs have become a mainstay in corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives. With 65% of Fortune 500 companies and 51% of Russell 1000 companies offering these programs, it is clear that donation matching is a popular and effective way for companies to support philanthropy. These programs not only amplify the social good achieved by nonprofits but also engage employees in meaningful ways. Here is some more information on the essentials of donation...

Employee wages and raising the minimum wage has been a hot topic for HR professionals and organizational leaders for a little while now as inflation continues to rise, yet wages have not increased at the same pace. Raising the minimum wage may have various effects on several industries, but one that is likely to see larger effects is the hospitality industry. This is mainly due to the large portion of tipped workers it consists of and the recent legislature to remove the tip credit which...

More than two-thirds of employees said that health care benefits are second only to salary when considering a job offer, and 78% said they would find a new job if their benefits package was inadequate, according to recent research from Intuit QuickBooks and Allstate Health Solutions. The 2024 Intuit QuickBooks Allstate Health Solutions Benefit Survey noted that the survey results emphasize the important role health care benefits play when it comes to an employer’s ability to...

Affordable employer health insurance is becoming an employer burden and an employee wish.  According to the Kaiser Foundation in their 2023 report, the average annual premium for employer-sponsored health insurance in 2023 was $8,435 for single coverage and $23,968 for family coverage. The average annual single premium and the average annual family premium each increased by 7% over the last year. Comparatively, there was an increase of 5.2% in workers’ wages and inflation was at...

While employers and others were digesting what the Michigan Supreme Court did to employers with its ruling on the Minimum Wage and Paid Medical Leave laws last week, talk has started to grow around a new law enacting Michigan Paid Family and Medical Leave that could pay employees up to fifteen (15) weeks of leave per year if they qualify for the benefit.

Last week the Michigan Supreme Court ruled that the "adopt and amend” enaction of our current minimum wage and paid medical leave was unconstitutional. This means that PA 337 and PA 338, the original ballot initiatives of 2018, will take effect February 21, 2025. It also means larger employers that adopted paid time off benefits compliant with the amended law will have to modify their paid time off policies to comply with the originally passed law. It also means small employers,...

In recent years, there has been a noticeable shift in how employers think about workplace benefits. Traditionally, benefits packages have focused on healthcare, retirement plans, and paid time off. While these are important, there is a growing recognition that financial wellness is a crucial aspect of overall employee well-being. This realization has prompted employers to reevaluate and expand their benefits offerings to better support their employees' financial health.

Nancy Mator and Robert Mator participate in the Wesco Distribution, Inc. Retirement Savings Plan.  On behalf of themselves and a class of participants and beneficiaries, the Mators sued the Plan, its fiduciaries, and Wesco Distribution, Inc. (collectively, “Wesco”). The Mators allege Wesco   violated   fiduciary duties imposed by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) because it paid excessive recordkeeping fees and failed to monitor...

Last week the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released its report on state and local government worker pay. It showed that public worker pay is nearly 40% higher than private sector workers. Remember this next time a call for tax increases is made.

On Monday, the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) final rule changing the salary level test from $684/week to $844/week took effect as scheduled. This rule is being challenged in several Texas federal courts. It was hoped by some, that one of those Court decisions would result in the issuance of an injunction for the entire United States. However, in one case, the injunction issued on Friday only impacts State of Texas public employees. In the second case, the Court declined to issue an...

The 2024 ASE Compensation Survey provides a detailed look into salary trends across Michigan, reflecting the dynamic nature of the job market and economic conditions. With data from 411 employers covering 545 positions and over 95,000 incumbents, the survey offers valuable insights into wage growth, economic influences, and compensation practi

Payscale Inc., ASE partner and the leading provider of compensation data, software and services, released its 2024 Top Performers Report. Leveraging data from Payscale’s flagship Compensation Best Practices Report, the new research examines what differentiates top performing companies, defined as organizations who self-report that they exceeded their revenue targets in 2023, from non-top performers: those that missed their revenue goals. Payscale found that being proactive,...