Category: Benefits and Compensation

This topic provides guidance on how to handle compensation issues in a way that attracts and retains the best talent and advances the strategic goals of your business. You get news and tips on what’s going on nationally and in the states, and updates on changes in regulations, possible governmental action, and emerging compensation trends.

retirement

IRS 2016 Required Amendments List Gives First Guidance on Changes Needed to Retain Qualification

by Jane Meacham The Internal Revenue Service (IRS), in its first “Required Amendments (RA) List” on December 13, 2016, informed individually designed employer-sponsored retirement plans about required amendments for 2016 that may be needed to reflect changes and ensure the plans keep their qualified status. In the release, IRS Notice 2016-80, the agency also said […]

Medicare

How COBRA Intersects with Medicare and Retiree Health Plans

In a recent article, I talked a bit about the complicated intersection of Medicare and The Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA), with assistance from Paul M. Hamburger, Esq., author and contributing editor of BLR’s publication Mandated Health Benefits: The COBRA Guide, which I used as background research.

Transparent, Ongoing Communication Key to Total Rewards Strategy

If you are planning to develop or make changes to your current total rewards program, you will likely seek input from several external sources, including benchmarking data. But you will also need to gather substantial internal input, such as leadership’s philosophy towards total rewards, and, perhaps most importantly, get input from your internal customers.

retirement

Update Your Retirement Plan to Account for Changing Abilities

by Lisa Higgins, Contributing Editor We know, you’ve heard a lot about the differences between the generations, especially when it comes to work and benefits. What do the Millennials want from their employers? How does that compare to the Baby Boomers’ expectations? And please, just because they’re a smaller group, don’t forget about the Gen […]

IRS Announces 2017 Standard Mileage Rates

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has issued the 2017 optional standard mileage rates used to calculate the deductible costs of operating an automobile for business, charitable, medical, or moving purposes.

healthcare

Court Considers EEOC Claims that Wellness Program Was Involuntary, Employee Fired for Nonparticipation

In EEOC v. Orion Energy Systems, Inc., a federal district court considered a challenge to an employer’s wellness incentive program. As explained in part 1 of this article, the court rejected the company’s contention that the Americans with Disabilities Act’s (ADA) safe harbor for benefits administration should apply.

hiring

How ‘Matchmaking’ Brought in a New Classification of Worker

by Tami Simon, JD, managing director, Xerox HR Services A matchmakers’ business model centers on making connections. In the days of “Fiddler on the Roof,” the connection was made by an old woman named Yenta. Today, many matchmaking sites promote “uniquely designed” computer programs that promise to find a person’s perfect match (e.g., match.com, zoosk, […]