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Compensation & Benefits

Schools, get out your calendars: Teachers have up to three years to sue

12/24/2014
A public school teacher who files an internal appeal over her pay or classification has three years after the final decision to file a lawsuit.

New laws raise damages for minimum wage violations

12/24/2014
Two recently enacted bills will affect how employers pay their employees.

Pay up! Wage-and-hour issues take center stage in 2015

12/23/2014
Wage-and-hour issues could take center stage in 2015, with federal, state and local legislative battles looming over increases to the minimum wage, more wage-and-hour litigation and proposed regulations that could dramatically narrow the overtime exemptions under the Fair Labor Standards Act.

No commission payment? Unemployment comp instead

12/23/2014
An employee who doesn’t receive the commissions he believes he is owed can quit and still receive unemployment compensation.

Serve up on-site, tax-free, deductible meals for employees

12/23/2014
Do you provide a company cafeteria or other on-site meals for employees? This can be a valuable tax-free fringe benefit to employees and help attract and retain workers.

How do we enter a gross-up on a W-2?

12/23/2014
Q: The company offers stock to employees, which becomes taxable at a later date. Employees who terminate during the year are still eligible for the stock, but, since there are no longer wages from which we can withhold, we gross up the FICA taxes. On their W-2s, we make entries in Boxes 1, 3, 4, 5 and 6. Management is questioning why, if we’re only paying the FICA taxes, all of those boxes are increased. Now we’re not so sure if we’ve been doing this right. Who’s correct?

Study: 2008 market crash delayed retirement for 23%

12/22/2014
Among the victims of the Great Recession of 2008-2009 were the retirement expectations of many Americans. New research from the nonpartisan Employee Benefit Research Institute has quantified just how much those hopes suffered.

Beyond the basics, which holidays will we observe next year?

12/21/2014
In 2015, almost all employers plan to give workers the day off on New Year’s Day, Memorial Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving and Christmas. What about other holidays?

How will employer-provided health plans change in 2015?

12/19/2014
Fewer than 1% of employers plan to drop health insurance benefits in 2015. In many workplaces, however, employers are taking steps to rein in the cost of health benefits. Here are the top five measures.

2015 tax rates: It always pays to plan ahead

12/19/2014
Employees can take a lot of the guesswork out of their 2015 income tax liability by ensuring that their W-4s are accurate. Here are the 2015 standard deduction amounts.