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Compensation & Benefits

Regs allow reimbursement of local lodging expenses

01/08/2015
Under final tax regulations, employees who aren’t traveling away from home overnight, but who stay overnight at a local hotel, may have their substantiated lodging expenses reimbursed as a tax-free working condition fringe benefit, provided you have a bona fide reason to require them to stay overnight at the hotel.

Federal court delays overtime rule for some home health aides

01/06/2015
The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on New Year’s Eve issued a temporary restraining order to temporarily stop the U.S. Department of Labor from implementing a rule that would have made many live-in home health care aides eligible for overtime pay.

Supreme Court: No pay for security screening time

01/05/2015
A recent ruling held that time workers spend waiting to undergo and undergoing security screenings is not compensable under the FLSA.

Austin bus company to pay $655K to settle labor dispute

01/05/2015
Travis Transit Management of Austin has agreed to pay 600 current and former employees $655,000 to settle charges it unilaterally changed employee health, retirement and other benefits when it began providing bus service for Austin’s Capital Metro in 2012.

EEOC diagnoses trouble for wellness plans

01/05/2015
The EEOC is increasingly targeting employer wellness programs that it believes run afoul of federal law, and a program implemented without sufficient due diligence can lead to expensive legal claims.

ERISA: Overview

01/05/2015

HR Law 101: The Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) governs the administration of employee benefit plans and the rights of plan beneficiaries. While many tend to associate ERISA only with retirement benefits, the law covers many other areas …

Proposed rules cover changes in measurement periods/methods

01/04/2015
The ACA allows you to use the look-back/stability measurement method to determine whether employees are full-time employees. You set the length of your periods, provided they’re equal and aren’t longer than 12 months. Although it’s clear that you can’t restart the measurement clock when employees transfer, it’s less clear how you apply the periods once a transfer occurs. The IRS has proposed rules that clarify how differing periods apply to transfers.

Fair Labor Standards Act: Overview

01/03/2015

HR Law 101: The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) covers the federal minimum wage, rules on overtime pay and child labor regulations. Since the U.S. Department of Labor recently overhauled the overtime rules, it’s critical to make sure you’re properly classifying workers as exempt or nonexempt …

Pension Benefits: ERISA Rules

01/03/2015

HR Law 101: The Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) governs the administration of employee retirement plans. Pension plans fall into two major categories: qualified and nonqualified plans …

FLSA: Calculating Hours Worked

01/02/2015
HR Law 101: To ensure you’re in compliance with the FLSA, it’s important to understand the definition of “hours of work.” Any hour when an employee’s on duty is considered time worked. The only period usually excluded: when an employee uses the time for personal reasons …