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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.
California lawmakers stayed busy throughout the year, passing a number of new wage, hour, leave and anti-discrimination laws. Here, in no particular order, are some of the biggies that go into effect Jan. 1: Pregnancy Disability Leave All employers with five or more employees will be required, starting Jan. 1, to continue to maintain and […]
Caraway is a member of Miller & Martin PLLC in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Her remarks came at BLR’s Advanced Employment Issues Symposium, held recently in Nashville. [Go here for yesterday’s policy recommendations] Intermittent Leave Describe the smallest increment in which FMLA leave can be taken (hourly, etc). Note that the amount cannot be greater than hourly, […]
Just when you thought you’d figured out all the new regulations set to go into effect for 2012, some government agency changes them up on you. At least with last Friday’s announcement from the IRS, you can breathe easy: its changes won’t take effect until Feb. 1, 2012, or later. The Service’s Announcement 2011-82 changes […]
Advance copies of the 2011 Form 5500 annual return/report and related instructions are now available for your viewing pleasure — the issuing federal agencies note the forms are for “informational purposes” only, so don’t use them to get a head start on your filing responsibilities. The advance copies were jointly issued by the U.S. Department […]
Beginning Jan. 1, 2012, Forms 5500 and 5500-SF must have electronic signatures. The consequences of filing without them are serious: it will result in a form not being processed at all, and could result in penalties being imposed on the plan. Forms 5500 and 5500-SF that have no electronic signature will be given a filing […]
Communication is the Key Caraway reminds employers that communicating the rules is key to successfully managing FMLA. When employees ask about FMLA, they are already stressed by whatever is underlying the request for leave. If you hit them with a rule they don’t know about (they’ll call it a “technicality”) their reaction is going to […]
The feds’ decision to release Medicare claims data for quality measurement should help employers and individuals alike make more informed decisions down the road, advancing the goals of health care quality and value, a plan sponsor representative noted. Importantly, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ (CMS) final rules apparently will allow the selected data […]
Critics say health reform is part of a disturbing trend of the government displacing free markets, and they note that it looks unlikely to curtail spiraling health costs. Well, now Rep. Sean Duffy (R-Wis.) – a freshman House member – has introduced a bill that would repeal the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) […]
There are 50 states and a few territories, and now there could be that many versions of essential benefit plans under federal health reform. That’s because the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is shunning a centralized approach to dictating “how much health coverage is enough;” that is, what needs to be covered […]
Your employees might be disappointed when they learn their tax exempt transit benefits are no longer $230 next month. Commuter benefits for mass transit are a top benefit offered by companies. But the monthly $230 cap for mass transit is set to be cut nearly in half to $125 a month in just six days – […]