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Compensation & Benefits

Parkland execs’ bonuses go to low-wage staff

07/31/2014
Dallas-based Parkland Health and Hospital System cut its executives bonuses this year, but not because the head honchos performed poorly. The system’s governing body decided the money was better spent raising the pay of the system’s lowest-earning employees instead.

Four Dallas restaurants settle DOL wage disputes

07/31/2014
Workers at four Dallas-area restaurants will receive more than $188,000 following a U.S. Depart­­ment of Labor Wage and Hour Divi­­sion (WHD) investigation. The restaurants—Yes Buffet in Grand Prairie, Royal Buf­­fet in Rowlett and Crown Buffet and Win Chi­­nese Buffet in Dallas—underpaid 61 employees.

Workweek isn’t based on consecutive days

07/31/2014

Under the FLSA, employees are entitled to overtime for hours worked over 40 in any workweek. However, the law doesn’t specify how a workweek is determined…

August 2014: Employer’s business tax calendar

07/31/2014
This is your monthly guide to critical payroll due dates.

Which has greater value to employees: Retirement or health benefits?

07/30/2014

Employees are more satisfied with their company-sponsored retirement benefits than they were five years ago, but satisfaction with health care benefits (especially the cost), has declined, according to a new survey by the Towers Watson consulting firm. How big is the satisfaction split?

Flexible schedules bill runs into inflexible congressional calendar

07/30/2014
Democrats in the House and Senate have introduced the Schedules that Work Act, which would give nonexempt employees the right to request flexible work schedules without fear of retaliation.

New COBRA notices further explain individual exchanges

07/30/2014
You can finally make the Affordable Care Act work for you. Newly proposed COBRA regulations update the model COBRA notices to expand the discussion of the individual Health Insurance Marketplace exchanges, through which COBRA-eligible employees may, instead, buy individual policies.

Take it or leave it? What affects retirement rollovers?

07/29/2014
It’s a question that interests policymakers and employers alike: When workers leave or change jobs, what do they do with their employment-based retirement savings—and why?

Use tuition benefits to build home-grown skills

07/28/2014

Starbucks got a lot of attention this summer when it announced it would help its baristas—even part-timers—pay for online college classes offered by Arizona State University. That’s news for three reasons.

Can sick leave hours count toward overtime?

07/25/2014
Q. Last week, one of our hourly employees was out sick on Monday, but she worked a total of 40 hours from Tuesday through Friday. She would like to use her sick leave from Monday and claim overtime for those Monday sick-day hours. Must I pay her overtime for her Monday hours?