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benefits

Voluntary Benefits Help Employees Fill the Healthcare Coverage Gap

In its inaugural “State of Employee Benefits 2016” report, Benefitfocus found companies are altering their healthcare plan design to shift greater financial responsibility to employees via voluntary benefits, driving the need for a different approach to healthcare consumption. These benefits can be powerful tools in helping cover the costs associated with consumer-driven health care, says […]

Pop quiz: Will she be Ripa roaring mad?

by Mark I. Schickman Pop Quiz #1: Your 26-year, highly successful employee Kelly is popular with both employees and your customer base. Five years ago, she successfully inherited the work of an old-time employee, keeping his customers happy and adding more! Four years ago, Michael was hired and assigned to assist her; under her tutelage, […]

Wellness Goes Beyond Physical Health

Most employers (and employees) think of wellness as primarily relating to physical health. But as a new survey reveals, employers are expanding wellness programs beyond just the physical aspects to improve employees’ emotions, finances, and “resiliency.”

High Court Sends Birth Control Cases Back to Circuits

Rather than resolve a dispute over the Affordable Care Act’s contraceptive mandate, the U.S. Supreme Court on May 16 remanded the cases to appeals courts without ruling on the plaintiffs’ religious freedom arguments. The decision to remand seems due to Justice Antonin Scalia’s death, which left the court in a 4-4 conservative/liberal deadlock; leading observers […]

DOL poised to release new overtime final rule

The long-awaited final rule making millions more employees eligible to earn overtime pay is likely to be released on May 18, and if its contents match recent reports, employers and employees alike are in for big changes. The Politico news organization reports that Vice President Joe Biden, Labor Secretary Tom Perez, and Ohio Senator Sherrod […]

ABC, Kelly Ripa, Michael Strahan, and lessons on parting ways with key employees

What Kelly Ripa lacks in size, she makes up for in attitude. At just 5’3″, the petit daytime talk show star measures but a fraction of the size of her former co-host, Michael Strahan, himself a former New York Giants defensive end and Super Bowl champion. But Ripa’s actions since news broke of Strahan’s planned departure from Live! for a […]

New Survey Demystifies Factors Causing the ‘Gender Pay Gap’

A new report by Glassdoor, Demystifying the Gender Pay Gap, helps to confirm the existence of wage disparities by sex and why they continue. It is based on a unique data set of more than 534,000 salary reports by employees, which includes pay data down to specific job title and company name.

Ask the Expert: Can this Exempt Employee Be Paid Hourly?

We are a staffing company that employs W-2 contractors. We are trying to determine exempt vs. nonexempt status for an employee. The job is a Senior Systems Engineer. Utilizing an FLSA checklist, he meets the criteria for an exempt employee. However, he is not a salaried employee. Does the fact that he is paid hourly […]