Practical HR Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
In proposed rules issued Jan. 27, the IRS clarifies how participants in employer-sponsored plans are to count employer contributions to HRAs and wellness program incentives when calculating their contributions to employer-sponsored coverage. In those rules, the IRS also allows temporary exceptions to health care reform’s definition of minimum essential coverage for government-sponsored limited-benefit plans, giving […]
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has issued a new fact sheet explaining how federal nondiscrimination laws apply to employer tests and other selection procedures—such as personality tests, medical exams, and credit checks—used to screen applicants for hire and employees for promotion. The fact sheet also spotlights “best practices” employers can follow to avoid […]
Yesterday’s Advisor featured tips for finding payroll fraud; today, consultant Vicki Lambert CPP’s tips on who should do your payroll audit, plus an introduction to BLR’s popular HR Department of One. Lambert, who offers payroll training as “The Payroll Advisor,” says that you can’t give payroll auditing over to just anyone who’s free. There are […]
When an employee’s name or Social Security number differs from information in the Social Security Administration’s records, the agency sends out a “no-match” letter to notify the employer of the discrepancy. In a change from past years, the agency plans to send no-match letters only if an employer has more than 10 employees with mismatched […]
The new world of social networking and electronic communications opens all sorts of questions about etiquette, behavior, and life style. In "Available All the Time: Etiquette for the Social Networking Age," Wharton Professor Nancy Rothbard calls it a "double-edged sword." For example, she says, a Blackberry® can allow parents to attend their children’s soccer games […]
During our own audit of our pay for salaried workers, we discovered some discrepancies that I think might be questionable if someone were to sue us for discrimination. Statistically, it appears that we may be underpaying women as compared to men in the same job groups, but regional pay differences and other factors such as […]
There is some persistent confusion over what the implementation of the health reform law means for health flexible spending accounts and health savings accounts. The short answer is that with one exception, employers and plan administrators must follow different steps for health FSAs and HSAs. Understanding these steps is crucial, because the time to prepare […]
State and federal courts have grappled for years with the question of whether employers can compel workers to submit their employment disputes to arbitration. Now, in a major victory for employers, the U.S. Supreme Court has cleared up the confusion, giving employers the go-ahead to use mandatory arbitration agreements. The high court decision, coupled with […]
In late January, a former U.S. postal worker went on a shooting rampage at a mail processing plant in the town of Goleta near Santa Barbara. The ex-employee killed five, wounded another, and then turned the gun on herself. She reportedly had been placed on medical leave from her job in 2003 for psychological reasons–at […]
by Angelo D. Catalano, Coughlin & Gerhart, LLP The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) is a broad federal law that establishes the federal minimum wage, overtime pay requirements, and a plethora of other compensation-related standards. The Act provides guidance on what is and is not compensable work time. One of the questions that continues to […]