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Compensation & Benefits

Payroll 2015: What you need to know now

11/20/2014
Increases to the personal exemption amount, which doubles as the annual withholding allowance amount, are based on increases to the August Consumer Price Index. Here are the crucial payroll figures you need now.

Employees can sock away more for retirement next year

11/19/2014
The amount employees can contribute to their 401(k) or 403(b) plan accounts increases to $18,000 for 2015, the IRS has announced.

If an employee wants to earn less, not more, what could possibly be the legal risk?

11/19/2014
Q. Can we pay an employee minimum wage for a position that usually pays more? We have an applicant who doesn’t want to lose her pension benefits and can work for minimum wage yet still qualify to receive her pension. Should we have her make that request in writing?

401(k) contribution and catch-up limits increase

11/18/2014
The amount employees can contribute to their 401(k) or 403(b) plan accounts increases to $18,000 for 2015, the IRS announced.

Participation in retirement plans starts ticking up again

11/18/2014
The percentage of workers participating in an employment-based retirement plan increased in 2013 for the first time since 2010, according to a new report by the nonpartisan Employee Benefit Research Institute.

HIPAA: Compliance Rules

11/15/2014

HR Law 101: The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) of 1996 made changes to three areas of the continuing-coverage rules that apply to group health plans under COBRA …

Are loans from the company taxable to employees?

11/14/2014
Q: HR’s latest benefit is a computer purchase program, which is an interest-free loan. The guidelines state its purpose is to encourage employees to purchase up-to-date equipment, increase their comfort level with technology and extend those educational and personal benefits to their families. Employees can borrow up to $1,500, payable over 24 months via payroll deductions. We’re concerned with two aspects of this program …

Should we automatically make payroll deductions for employees’ lunch breaks?

11/14/2014
Q. Our payroll system automatically deducts 30 minutes per day from drivers for lunch since they are on the road and away from a computer. I have concerns about liability. Should we make this deduction?

IKEA announces 17% boost in its minimum wage

11/13/2014
Swedish ready-to-assemble furniture maker IKEA will soon give a pay raise averaging $1.59 per hour to its lowest-paid U.S. employees. The move, affecting about half the company’s workforce of 11,000, will raise IKEA’s average minimum wage to $10.76.

When ‘manager’ doesn’t manage, title doesn’t determine exempt status

11/13/2014
Just because an employee is called a supervisor and sometimes tells others what tasks to perform, that doesn’t mean she’s an exempt admin­­istrative or executive employee. It’s the actual duties performed day to day that count.