Archives

Employers Take Note: Commuting by Public Transit On the Rise

Employers should take note: more of their employees are coming to and going from the office via public transportation. That’s more than an interesting statistic — it has implications for employers. Employees who take public transportation to work may benefit from a tax break, but only if their employer sponsors a qualified transportation fringe benefit […]

Armchair Manager: What Sports Can Teach Us About Management

What’s more, an athlete often has to deal with teammates, a coach, and management or governing bodies. There always seems to be something going on in the sporting world that lends itself to the drama of the human theater. There are a number of current situations playing themselves out that deserve some analysis and reflection […]

GAO Recommends Stepping Up Retirement Education Efforts to Small Businesses

Small businesses that seek to improve their retirement plans should have access to more information from the federal government. That is the recommendation of the Government Accountability Office (GAO), which in a recent report steers clear of advocating bold moves and suggests that the federal government improve what it’s already doing in order to better […]

Workers’ Compensation Versus Other Employment Laws

“The difficult workers’ compensation problems are only one aspect of a multi-dimensional employment law problem.”, noted David Schmit in a BLR webinar titled “Workers’ Comp: How to Discipline or Terminate Claimants While Minimizing Your Legal Risks,”. If you’ve been considering firing an employee who is out on workers’ comp leave – or recently back from […]

Triton HR and BLR®—Business & Legal Resources announce Strategic Partnership

Triton HR and BLR—Business & Legal Resources today announced their strategic partnership Woodbridge, NJ (March 13, 2012)  Triton HR, spearheading a complete Web-based HR/Payroll solution in Human Resources management for small to mid-sized companies and BLR®—Business & Legal Resources, helping HR, Safety and Environmental professionals with legal compliance and professional support resources, today announced their […]

401(k) Disclosures: How to Handle Employee Questions

Studies show that the vast majority of 401(k) participants believe their plan is free. There may be a rude awakening the first time you inform them of the fees being charged. What to do? Again, we turn to BLR’s New 401(k) Fee Disclosure Compliance Download Report for help. Preparing Staff to Handle Questions/Concerns Preparing staff […]

5 Basic Rules for Understanding Travel Pay in California

Experts say travel pay disputes – from business trips and mandatory off-site training to commuting time, waiting time, and on-call time – could fuel an enormous surge in lawsuits filed by workers in 2012 and beyond. Why? Many employers haven’t updated their workplace policies in recent years to keep up with changing federal and state […]

Bonuses Always Included in Overtime, Except …

The FLSA provides for several narrow exemptions from the requirement that bonuses be included in an employee’s regular rate of pay. The onus is on the employer to prove that a payment meets one of the exemption requirements. The exemptions include: Gifts, or payments in the nature of gifts, made at Christmas time or on […]

Bonuses and Overtime—One of the Most Frequent Failures in Comp

Bonuses Included in Overtime Calculations? Under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), bonus payments are divided into discretionary and nondiscretionary types. Nondiscretionary bonuses are included in an employee’s regular rate of pay for the purpose of determining overtime, while discretionary bonuses are not included in an employee’s regular rate of pay to determine overtime. […]