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

Compensation & Benefits

Final regs clarify criteria for wraparound plans

05/18/2015
Final regulations include as an excepted benefit limited wraparound coverage—coverage that supplements, or wraps around, individual nongrandfathered health policies by providing additional benefits to part-time employees and retirees and doesn’t consist solely of cost-sharing subsidies.

How long do you retain W-2 information?

05/14/2015
Q: A former employee has requested a copy of his 2003 W-2 form. We backed up the data, sent it to a remote storage facility and purged it years ago. It would be extremely burdensome to pull it out now, especially for a former employee. What is the legal requirement for providing employees with copies of old W-2s?

Downturn still takes toll on work/life balance

05/13/2015
One-third of full-time workers believe balancing their work and personal lives has become more difficult in the last five years, as a Great Recession legacy of stagnant salaries and longer hours adds pressure at the office and on the home front.

DOL offers stock-appraisal guidance for companies that sponsor ESOPs

05/12/2015
The U.S. Department of Labor has developed appraisal guidelines to help employers that sponsor Employee Stock Ownership Plans make informed decisions about legally buying and selling company stock.

New white-collar OT rules could be out soon

05/12/2015
The long-awaited rewrite of federal rules governing overtime pay for salaried executive, administrative and professional employees inched closer to enactment on May 5, when the U.S. Department of Labor forwarded a proposed final version to the Office of Management and Budget, which assesses the fiscal impact of government initiatives.

Supreme Court: King v. Burwell & Obergefell v. Hodges

05/08/2015
The Supreme Court of the United States has ruled that premium tax credits are available to all qualified individuals, regardless of whether they buy health insurance through a state or federal exchange. The ruling leaves intact the employer free-rider penalties in the 34 states that have not established state exchanges. The case is King v. Burwell, No.  12-114.

Take two: Some EPPs get transition relief

05/08/2015
The IRS meant it when it said that all employers, regardless of size, will be liable for a $100 per day, per employee, excise tax if they pay for or reimburse employees who buy individual health insurance either on or off the individual exchange. Sort of. It’s now providing transition relief to certain employers and to certain reimbursement arrangements.

New white-collar OT rules inch closer to release

05/07/2015
The long-awaited rewrite of federal rules governing overtime pay for salaried executive, administrative and professional employees took one step closer to becoming reality on May 5.

What HR needs to know about tracking employee time

05/06/2015
Supervisors and HR pros need to understand what they can and cannot do with time records. Problems can lead to legal disputes under the Fair Labor Standards Act.

Merrill Lynch trainee OT suit could become class action

05/06/2015
Two participants in Merrill Lynch’s management development program are suing the firm, alleging they were not paid for overtime they worked during the intensive training period.