• The HR Specialist - Print Newsletter
  • HR Specialist: Employment Law
  • The HR Weekly

Compensation & Benefits

Health benefits alternative: HSA balances growing

07/23/2015
Average health savings account balances increased from $1,408 to $1,933—up about 37%—in 2014, according to the Employee Benefit Research Institute.

Minimum wage hike imminent

07/22/2015
Minnesota’s minimum wage rises on Aug. 1 for some employers. Large employers, with annual sales of at least $500,000, must pay their employees at least $9.00 per hour. Small employers, with annual sales under $500,000, get to keep the current minimum wage of $7.25.

No excuse for tardiness? No unemployment, either

07/22/2015
Employers have the right to expect their employees will generally show up for and leave work as scheduled. Workers who, without a good reason, are frequently late or leave early aren’t eligible for unemployment compensation if they’re fired. Those absences, even if largely unintentional, are misconduct.

Helping employees learn to invest for retirement

07/21/2015
About half of employers surveyed by the Society for Human Resource Management offer some kind of investment advising benefit.

Wellness up as employers combat health costs

07/21/2015
With health care costs rising and Affordable Care Act compliance efforts in full swing, employers are turning toward wellness programs to counter some of the financial strain.

Do you need to pay staff so often?

07/21/2015
There is no button you can push to make a paycheck pop out, yet almost everyone in your company thinks payroll processing is automatic. That can lead to problems at every level of the organization if you’re thinking of switching pay frequencies, according to Lisa Poole, CPP, VP, HR Payroll Operations for Sun Trust Bank. Poole gave attendees at the American Payroll Association’s annual Congress some helpful suggestions for handling the change process.

IRS reps answer today’s pressing payroll questions

07/18/2015
Here are answers to questions put to representatives of the IRS who attended the American Payroll Association’s 33rd Annual Congress, held this year in Las Vegas.

New W-2, 1099 penalties for employers explained

07/17/2015
Q. I heard that there have been increases in the IRS penalties that employers have to pay for failing to file (or filing incorrect) tax documents?

When must workers’ comp pay for overdose?

07/17/2015
If an employee dies of an accidental prescription drug overdose, you’d think it would be hard for the family to claim workers’ compensation death benefits. But as the California Supreme Court shows, if an employee can claim the injury was work-related, an overdose on the resulting medications could trigger a workers’ comp claim.

Here’s your summer payroll checkup

07/17/2015
The thermometer heating up means it’s the perfect time to perform some general Payroll maintenance tasks. It’s also the key to a successful year-end.