12
Jun
2018
Given that 10,000 Baby boomers retire every day, employees may be coming to HR for help determining when to retire and what benefits will be available to them. They will likely inquire about how Social Security benefits are determined.
29
May
The Wage and Hour Division of the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) published three opinion letters earlier this month providing employers guidance on how to treat travel time, break time, and whether lump-sum payments can be garnished and to what extent.
In December, Congress passed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which was grudgingly signed into law by President Trump on December 22, 2017. Upon passage a number of companies such as AT&T, Apple, Southwest Airlines, and Fifth Third Bank announced bonuses to be paid to employees ranging from $1,000 to $2,500. Fifth Third Bank also increased its minimum wage to $15 per hour, while Wal-Mart hiked its minimum wage to $11 per hour.
Last week at the 8th annual Compensation & Benefits Conference, ASE released the long-awaited results of ASE’s 2018 Compensation Survey. Those in attendance were able to get a first look at the results and historical trends.
22
8
There are thousands of benchmark surveys available to both employers and their employees that can be utilized when making compensation and benefit decisions. As an employer, choosing the right survey(s) may not always be easy or straightforward. So how do you know which survey is right for you?
1
At times overtime is required in order to meet customer demand. An HR issue can arise when an employee presents a doctor’s note stating that the employee can only work eight hours per day and no overtime. Since ADA or FMLA may apply, how does the employer respond to this situation?
17
Apr
As of January 2017, 52 health insurance providers reported 21.8 million HSA/HDHP enrollees, up from 20.2 million in 2016. This is according to a recently released survey from America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) who also reported a 9.2% increase in enrollment in HSA/HDHP from 2016 to 2017 in an analysis of a constant sample of 45 health plans.
Calculating time worked for non-exempt employees who travel for their job is a challenge for many employers. On April 12, the U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division issued an opinion letter that tackles this question.
10
Yesterday, April 10, was Equal Pay Day, which means that women had to work all of 2017 and until April 10, 2018 to equate to what men made in just 2017. On average, women in the U.S. are paid 20% less than men according to the Institute for Women’s Policy Research. This research prompted Lean In, a nonprofit founded by Sheryl Sandberg to empower all women to achieve their ambitions, to start a new hashtag, #20percentcounts.
3
A survey of articles on the effectiveness of dependent eligibility audits show employers, on average, find between 4-8% of current participants ineligible for their healthcare plan coverage. In some cases, ineligible dependents constituted for 15% of the dependents receiving health care benefits. The average cost per ineligible dependent to the employer is between $3,500 and $4,500 per year.
20
Mar
When an employee’s workweek fluctuates above and below 40 hours, employers need to understand what they can and cannot do when it comes to payment of wages and overtime. Wage and Hour regulations address employee work hours that fluctuate above 40 hours in a week. When weekly work hours exceed 40, overtime pay at time and one-half is due. However, in a fluctuating work week situation the overtime rate can fluctuate along with the regular rate.
13
Last week the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) announced the rollout of a “new” pilot program called the Payroll Audit Independent Determination (PAID) program. This program offers employers a process to self-report wage and hour violations with the DOL to clear them up without being exposed to as many potential damages and monetary penalties.
6
In today’s society, the right talent is hard to find. When searching for the best candidate for a complex position, compensation is key to attracting the level of talent you need. Having a market-based compensation program is one way to ensure that a company remains competitive. The following seven steps will provide an overview for creating such a program within an organization.
27
Feb
Most federal gender pay discrimination cases are brought under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The other applicable law that was intended to address pay discrimination, the federal Equal Pay Act (EPA), was enacted before Title VII and was more narrow-focused.
As unemployment has steadily ticked down for the last several years, economists watched and waited for wage growth to start. Questions as to why a tightening labor market was not resulting in higher pay have been discussed and debated. As late as this week, an article in the New York Times (NYT) pointed to several macro force reasons wage movement was not behaving as economists have predicted.
30
Jan
Since the passage of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the requirements of the ACA have profoundly impacted small employer plans (under 50 employees) by raising costs at a faster rate than large employer plans.
23
Benchmarked compensation data provides organizations the information they need to make sound pay decisions for hiring, promotions, internal equity salary adjustments, and general compensation planning.
16
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