Compensation & Benefits

Emeryville, Calif. adopts minimum wage, paid sick leave regs

10/03/2017

Two years ago, Emeryville, Calif. passed its Minimum Wage, Paid Sick Leave, and Other Employment Standards Ordinance. Now the city manager has released the regulations implementing the ordinance.

Stress lawsuit OK’d even after workers’ comp

10/03/2017

The workers’ compensation system is supposed to make it easy for employees who are injured at work to get benefits. They don’t have to sue: If they can prove they were hurt at work, they receive benefits.

2018 FICA wage base, withholding allowances, retirement contributions

09/28/2017

The Social Security Administration has announced that the taxable wage base for the Social Security portion of FICA will increase to $128,700 in 2018. The amount employees can contribute to 401(k) and 403(b) retirement accounts will increase to $18,500 for 2018.

Survey: Employers trim discretionary bonuses

09/28/2017

Despite low unemployment, employer payrolls are expected to increase only 3% in 2018, according to recent surveys. That’s in line with pay raises employers have been handing out for the last several years. What is changing, however, is how employers are paying workers.

When workers’ comp, illegal status collide

09/26/2017

Federal law requires employers to verify that employees are eligible to work in the United States. It’s unlawful to knowingly hire anyone without authorization. But what happens if an employee’s ineligibility is only discovered in the course of investigating a workers’ compensation claim?

Nearly a third of employers offer vacation time donation

09/26/2017

Leave donation programs allow employees to donate their paid leave time to colleagues who are dealing with a catastrophic illness, personal emergency, or natural disaster, allowing the time to recover while still drawing a paycheck.

EEOC files test case on rigid leave policies

09/21/2017

If the EEOC wins a pending lawsuit, be prepared to amend any policy that unequivocally calls for firing employees who can’t return to work after they have used up all their leave. If you don’t, you could find yourself in the crosshairs of the EEOC litigation team.

Snapshot: How many employers offer health benefits?

09/19/2017

The health insurance “offer rate” for all but the smallest employers increased in 2017.

After natural disaster, who gets to take leave?

09/14/2017

From wildfires in the west to hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico, the Caribbean and the Southeast, natural disasters have millions of Americans on the move, trying to get out of harm’s way. But some employers need their workers in place even when disaster looms.

Diabetes costs employer health plans the most

09/12/2017

Diabetes is the number one condition affecting benefit plan health costs, according to the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans Workplace Wellness Trends 2017 Survey.