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Compensation & Benefits

‘Pimp My Ride’ auto shop will pay to settle lawsuit

06/24/2014
Corona-based West Coast Customs, an auto restyler famous for being on the MTV cable television show “Pimp My Ride,” will pay $174,000 in back wages and penalties following a U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division investigation.

Play-or-pay regs offer relief to new & growing employers

06/24/2014

Under the employer play-or-pay provisions of the ACA, employers of at least 50 full-time employees must offer them affordable group health benefits that provide minimum value and cover a menu of benefits or pay free-rider penalties. This can put new employers and employers on the cusp of employing 50 full-time employees in a bind, since any growth in their payrolls may put them unexpectedly in the cross hairs. The final ACA play-or-pay regulations provide relief to these employers.

Retirement trumps health in benefits survey

06/23/2014
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 of medical benefits, has declined, according to a new survey by the Towers Watson consulting firm.

OK to spread tax due on noncash award?

06/20/2014
Q: An employee will receive a noncash award worth $24,000. The federal income taxes owed will exceed the employee’s paycheck. Can the taxes be spread out over multiple pay periods?

Mortgage banker offers playful perks on the job

06/20/2014
Managers at national mortgage banker Supreme Lending encourage em­­ploy­­ees to balance work with time off and play—even on the job.

Does your vacation luggage include a briefcase?

06/20/2014
More than 60% of employees polled by Glassdoor.com reported that they tended to some kind of work-related matter during their last vacation.

401(k)s must recognize same-sex spouses

06/20/2014
The fallout from the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2013 U.S. v. Wind­­sor decision continues to affect employers. The IRS now says that 401(k) plans that define marriage and spouses in terms of heterosexuality must be amended to define those terms in a gender-neutral way.

America’s Top 5 benefits

06/18/2014
U.S. workers value health care and medical benefits above all other workplace perks. A new SHRM poll found these benefits were rated most important.

Family-coverage health premiums up 5.4% this year

06/17/2014
Employer-provided health insurance for a family of four now costs $23,215, according to a new report by the actuarial firm Milliman. This can be seen as both good and bad news.

Are business owners exempt from payroll taxes?

06/17/2014

Q: We process payroll for several companies. A new client says that company owners are exempt from all payroll taxes. Is there some law out there that we don’t know about?