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Compensation & Benefits

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.

What are the payday rules in Texas?

07/15/2015
Q. What payment and deduction requirements does the Texas Payday Law include?

What happens if we bounce a paycheck?

07/15/2015
Q. What are the penalties for failing to make timely payments or for issuing a paycheck that bounces under the Texas Payday Law?

After Obergefell, employers must ask: What to do about domestic-partner benefits?

07/14/2015
Domestic-partner benefits sprouted up in the 1990s because same-sex marriage wasn’t legal in most states. But following the Supreme Court’s landmark Obergefell v. Hodges decision last month, there are no more legal barriers to same-sex marriages nationwide …

The paid leave movement marches on

07/14/2015
Paid sick leave is quickly catching on as a must-have benefit, driven by both government mandates and business realities. But is there a downside?

Employer withheld child support equals $30 billion and counting

07/10/2015
The federal Office of Child Support Enforcement reports that during fiscal year 2013, the last year for which statistics are available, 74% of all child support payments were made via paycheck withholding. That’s $30 billion. The OCSE is beefing up its electronic income withholding orders, or eIWOs, in order to make the child support withholding process even more efficient.

What’s work for unemployment comp purposes?

07/09/2015

Workers who are collecting unemployment compensation benefits and “perform services” for 32 hours or more per week aren’t eligible to receive benefits for that week. If they work for fewer than 32 hours, they do receive benefits. But what about time spent on-call? Do those hours count toward the threshold? A recent court decision says they don’t.