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.

minimum wage

Maryland Takes Step Toward $15 Minimum Wage

In a widely expected move, the Maryland General Assembly has approved a significant increase in the state’s minimum wage by voting for legislation aimed at increasing the current rate of $10.10 per hour to $15 by 2025.

Equal Pay: 4 Steps to Define Comparable Work in Your Company

If Massachusetts’ new Equal Pay Act legislation is any indication, sweeping changes are coming, and the crux of forthcoming reforms will be determining comparable work and fair compensation. Companies can get a jump on this by defining and examining comparable work within their own organization to mitigate pay gaps and establish a fair work environment.

garnishment

What Are Wage Attachments?

A wage attachment, also known by the term wage garnishment, happens when there is a court order requiring an employer to use (attach) some portion of an employee’s wages to some other purpose, such as repaying a debt or paying child support. When an employer receives an order for wage attachment/garnishment, the employer must comply […]

HSA

Why Consumer-Directed Healthcare Communication Is More Important Than Ever

If you missed a paycheck, how much would that threaten your family’s financial situation? That’s the question that became a reality for hundreds of thousands of federal workers in the most recent government shutdown. Unexpectedly, the shutdown highlighted a massive issue in American life: most working professionals—even federal workers—are living paycheck to paycheck and need […]

Are Your Participant Education Programs Failing?

Many 401(k) plan sponsors seek to reduce their potential fiduciary liability by electing to be a Section 404(c) plan. Under Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) Section 404(c), a fiduciary is not liable for losses in the plan resulting from the participant’s selection of investments in his or her own account, provided that the participant […]

Innovative Approaches to Attracting Talent

It is no secret that there is a “war for talent” in the business world to attract the best and the brightest. As this fight continues, and although some of the same best practices we have known for decades still apply, there are other cool, innovative approaches that organizations have successfully used in ensuring the […]

Paycheck Fairness Act 101

Even with the passing of the Equal Pay Act of 1963, paycheck inequality remains a problematic issue in today’s workplace. There are a lot of reasons behind this—some more objective and obvious, and some more subtle—but the fact remains that pay has not equalized despite that law passing more than 50 years ago.