Compensation & Benefits

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.

Swindled payroll clients see a sliver of chance to recoup

07/07/2015

The IRS may have to return to a bankruptcy estate a bankrupt payroll service bureau’s tax deposits that were collected from clients but were used to satisfy its own tax liabilities. A federal trial court has ruled that the bankruptcy trustee may be able to void transfers of the clients’ money to the IRS.

DOL criteria for legitimate unpaid internships

07/06/2015

Is that summer intern down the hall working for free? Watch out! Chances are, you should be paying her at least the minimum wage. To avoid having to pay interns, employers must meet all six of these criteria laid out in U.S. Department of Labor Fact Sheet #71.

401(k) plans get 3 new safe harbors

07/04/2015

If you have an auto-enrollment 401(k) or 403(b) plan, or a plan with escalation features, then you probably have administrative problems. Run-of-the-mill 401(k) plans aren’t a piece of cake to administer, either. The IRS has created three new safe harbors under which you don’t need to make corrective contributions for missed or incorrectly calculated employee pretax deferrals if certain conditions are met. The safe harbors became effective April 2, 2015.

The late bird doesn’t get the W-2 worm

07/03/2015

Procrastinators beware: Aug. 1 is rapidly approaching. That’s when penalties increase from $100 per form (up to $1,637,500) to $270 (up to $3,275,500) for W-2 missteps.

Post-ACA, small business still shuns self insurance

07/03/2015

Small businesses are not following the lead of bigger firms by self-insuring their health benefits to avoid the costs of the Affordable Care Act, according to new research by the nonpartisan Employee Benefit Research Institute.

Keep backup data on employees’ hours worked

07/01/2015

Make sure you back up timecard information. Old-fashioned stamped cards can get lost or damaged. If that happens and an employee alleges she wasn’t paid for all work, the court may take her word—not yours—for how many hours she put in.

Child care: The huge cost many of your employees pay

07/01/2015

Child care costs continue to be a heavy lift for America’s working families, according to ChildCare Aware of America’s latest Parents and the High Cost of Child Care report.

July 2015: Employer’s business tax calendar

06/30/2015

Here’s your monthly guide to critical payroll due dates.

Agenda tips DOL’s hand on after-hours technology and pay