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Compensation & Benefits

April 2024: Employer’s business tax calendar

02/29/2024
Here’s your monthly guide to critical payroll due dates.

Who takes the most time off following work injuries?

02/26/2024
Analysts at Upflip, an online training provider, reviewed the latest injury and illness data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics to see which occupations had the highest percentage of cases where six days or more were taken off from work.

Pregnant Workers Fairness Act adds intermittent-leave challenges

02/23/2024
The PWFA lets pregnant employees take a new, albeit informal, form of intermittent leave—and it doesn’t always require a health-care provider’s certification. The PWFA requires pregnancy-related conditions to be reasonably accommodated. Many such conditions mean employees may miss work with little or no notice.

The benefit that gives back: Offer time off for employees who volunteer

02/21/2024
Paid time off so employees can engage in volunteer or charity work may be just the benefit you’ve been looking for. It doesn’t cost much, it burnishes your image in the community and it has been shown to improve employees’ mental health.

In the Payroll Mailbag: March ’24

02/21/2024
Sometimes “no” can be a good thing—as in no, this item is tax-free. Here are two perfect examples.

DOL adjusts penalties for 2024

02/21/2024
The Department of Labor has announced the 2024 inflation adjustments to penalties for violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act, the Family and Medical Leave Act and ERISA.

Old test or new, the FLSA still defaults to employee status

02/21/2024
The Fair Labor Standards Act is remedial legislation that is meant to cover as many employees as possible. The Department of Labor’s final worker status regulations were never intended to change this. The main reason for issuing the regs was to codify the Supreme Court’s 80-year-old test. A recent case decided before the final regs were issued illustrates.

Payroll practice essentials: Communicating with employees

02/21/2024
Your annual memo to employees explaining the entries on their W-2s shouldn’t be the beginning and end of your outreach to employees. At some point, you will need to communicate various items to employees: new-hire orientation packets, department policies or changes to payroll procedures (e.g., switching pay periods or introducing a new employee self-service platform). Communicating with employees shouldn’t strike fear in your heart.

Bubble, bubble, toil & payroll trouble

02/21/2024
Being on the bubble isn’t where college basketball teams want to be—maybe in or, worse, maybe out. You don’t want to be on the bubble, either. Take care of these items now and your bubble won’t burst.

Paper receipts still needed to substantiate expenses

02/21/2024
There is no substitute for paper receipts to substantiate employees’ business expenses. Expenses entered into a software program aren’t the equivalent of paper receipts, a federal trial court ruled. A couple who relied on tax software to substantiate their business expenses and losses was out of luck and out of money to the U.S. Treasury.