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

Compensation & Benefits

Is the eight-hour workday a relic of the past?

08/03/2015
A new survey indicates that, much like flip phones and fax machines, this tradition may be on its way out.

August 2015: Employer’s business tax calendar

07/31/2015
Here’s your monthly guide to critical payroll due dates.

When workers drive company vehicles, must we pay for travel time?

07/29/2015
Q. My nonexempt employees drive company vans from their homes to customers’ homes throughout the day. Am I required to pay employees for time they spend driving to customers’ homes or sitting in traffic?

Giant stores boosts minimum pay to $9 per hour

07/24/2015
Giant Food Markets raised the minimum wage it pays for any position to $9 per hour in June. The change affected approximately two-thirds of the company’s 33,000 employees at both its Giant and Martin’s locations.

Absence alone isn’t grounds to deny unemployment comp

07/24/2015
Employees discharged for being absent may still be eligible for unemployment compensation. That’s because employees must have committed willful misconduct to lose the right to benefits. An employee fired for missing work because he couldn’t call in or otherwise comply with his employer’s call-off procedure, for example, would still be eligible.

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.