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Compensation & Benefits

When it comes to unemployment benefits, angry outburst isn’t reason enough to quit

11/21/2017

Courts will always examine employment issues through the lens of one question: Would an average, reasonable worker have quit under the circumstances, choosing to become unemployed?

4 ways to inject more oversight into flexible work arrangements

11/21/2017
Employers may perceive flex schedules as a key retention tool, but they’re no longer shy about insisting that day-to-day productivity can’t suffer because of an employee’s altered schedule.

Senate tax proposal includes paid family leave measure

11/21/2017

The Senate’s mark-up version of tax reform proposes offering employers a partial tax credit for offering up to 12 weeks of paid family and medical leave.

Give ‘coupons’ to celebrate on a budget

11/21/2017

When she was getting her Denver product branding firm off the ground, Design and Image founder Deborah Williams couldn’t afford to give big holiday bonuses to her eight employees. Instead, she gave something almost as valuable: a book of coupons redeemable for work/life balance during the year.

Dependent care flexible spending accounts avoid House tax bill axe

11/14/2017

The version of tax reform legislation passed by the House Ways and Means Committee Nov. 9 retains popular dependent care flexible spending accounts.

Beware automatic deductions for meal times

11/09/2017

Take note if you automatically deduct meal periods from your hourly employees’ total hours worked: Although those deductions don’t violate the Fair Labor Standards Act, they can be dangerous.

Quitting for severance bars unemployment benefits

11/09/2017
Workers who quit their jobs and take a severance payment in ex­­change for dropping a potential lawsuit weren’t “forced” to quit because of something their employers did to make remaining employed impossible. They, therefore, aren’t eligible for unemployment compensation payments.

EEOC sues Estée Lauder over unequal leave benefits

11/08/2017
Cosmetic giant Estée Lauder faces charges its parental leave benefits discriminate against men.

‘Modest’ premium hikes for health benefits

11/08/2017

Annual family premiums for employer-sponsored health insurance rose an average of 3% to $18,764 this year, continuing a six-year run of relatively modest increases.

More employers institute 401(k) auto-enrollment

11/08/2017

More employers than ever are automatically enrolling employees in defined contribution retirement plans such as 401(k)s, according to a new survey by Alight Solutions, an HR consultancy that recently spun off from Aon Hewitt.