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Compensation & Benefits

Three-year checkup: OCSE revises IWO & instructions

12/17/2014
Every three years, the federal Office of Child ­Support Enforcement revises the standard Income Withholding Order. All child ­support withholding orders must be issued on IWOs. The OCSE recently updated the form and instructions.

Health care cost growth lowest in over 50 years

12/16/2014
Health spending last year grew at the lowest rate since 1960, according to the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

Do first names count for Social Security purposes?

12/15/2014
Q: An employee’s Social Security card lists her first name as “Michelle.” She says this is a mistake, and her name is really spelled “Mechelle.” When I told her that she needed to get a replacement Social Security card, she said that the Social Security Administration told her that she would need to first have her name changed in court before a replacement card could be issued. This sounds fishy to us. Does the SSA care about first names?

Americans have 2½ hours for leisure each day

12/14/2014
The average American spends more than 16 hours either working or sleeping, according to the U.S. Department of Labor’s American Time Use Survey.

COBRA: Employer Obligations

12/13/2014

HR Law 101: Under the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA) of 1985, employers are required to continue offering health insurance benefits to employees and their covered dependents for a specified period after they leave the organization …

Walkthroughs, wellness contribute to 1 million-hour safety milestone

12/12/2014
Paperboard packaging company Zumbiel Packaging used positive reinforcement and employee education to log more than 1 million hours without a lost-time accident and a quarter million hours without any type of injury.

$36,500 excise tax per employee! What’s that all about?

12/12/2014

The IRS made quite a splash when it concluded in an Affordable Care Act FAQ that all employers, regardless of size, that didn’t have a group health plan, and that instead reimbursed employees for their costs to buy health insurance either on or off the individual health exchange, would be liable for $36,500 in self-assessed excise taxes. We’ve taken some time to sort this all out.

It’s time to tell a new story about voluntary benefits

12/10/2014

The Affordable Care Act has precipitated a new appreciation for voluntary benefits. A well-designed package of them will be essential for recruiting and retaining top talent.

Worksheet for 2014 Forms W-3/941

12/10/2014
Use this worksheet to reconcile your four quarterly 941s and W-2s, so the amounts you report to the SSA and the IRS match.

W-2s this year: What a difference a day makes

12/09/2014
You have an extra weekend to ensure that employees’ W-2s are correct. Since Jan. 31 is a Saturday, employees must receive their W-2s by Monday, Feb. 2, 2015. The IRS must receive your fourth-quarter Form 941, and annual Forms 940, 944 and 945 by that date, too. Here’s what you need to do now.