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Compensation & Benefits

Two-minute payroll reads: December ’23

11/21/2023
Payroll is complicated and your time is limited. Spend two minutes reading these digests and you’ll be up-to-date on key payroll developments.

Please explain: What does it mean to gross up?

11/21/2023
If you pay an employee’s taxes on, say, a $500 bonus or the value of a gift card, those taxes become income to the employee. That means more withholding. And if the employer keeps picking up the taxes, what results is a never-ending upward spiral of taxation. The only way to escape is to gross up the payment. But what does this really mean?

Online hearing on Labor Department’s fiduciary rule scheduled for mid-December

11/20/2023
The Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration will hold an online hearing Dec. 12 and 13 on a proposed rule that would require financial advisors working on retirement-plan accounts to act in the best interests of investors, not the companies that create investment products.

Health-benefits costs jumped 5.2% in 2023 due to inflation, higher pharma costs

11/20/2023
The average per-employee cost of employer-sponsored health insurance rose by 5.2% in 2023 to reach $15,797. That’s a big jump compared to 2022, according to the Mercer consulting firm’s annual National Survey of Employer-Sponsored Health Plans.

How to battle poor retention by improving interactions and saying “thank you”

11/20/2023
At the HR Specialist Summit 2023, Karl Ahlrichs, renowned HR expert and speaker, shared insightful strategies for providing rewards and recognition to employees. In his presentation, he emphasized the potential to bolster your team’s retention without significant additional costs, focusing instead on the value and thoughtfulness of the rewards and recognition you offer.

Smaller raises predicted in 2024

11/13/2023
Based on 2024 salary-budget surveys conducted by seven consulting firms, payroll vendors and business organizations, raises for the coming year should average 3.9%.

All tax Friday wrap: The last of the 2024 inflation adjustments and a little bit more

11/10/2023
2024 inflation adjustments and volunteer opportunities ahead of the holiday weekend.

Inflation worries reshaping employees’ retirement expectations, savings behavior

11/06/2023
Following a second straight year of above‐average inflation, and after last year’s volatile markets, workers’ perceptions of what retirement will look like have also begun to shift, further complicating the retirement outlook.

Employers expect smaller pay raises in 2024

11/06/2023
U.S. employers plan to raise their compensation budgets by 3.5% for merit increases in 2024, and 3.9% for their total salary-increase budgets for non-union employees, according to the Mercer consulting firm’s latest QuickPulse U.S. Compensation Planning Survey.

DOL proposed rule requires retirement plan advice ‘in investor’s best interest’

10/31/2023
The Biden administration on Oct. 31 proposed requiring financial advisors working on retirement-plan accounts to act in the best interests of investors, not the companies that create investment products. The core of the new rule—issued by the Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration—is an updated definition of investment advice fiduciary. EBSA will enforce the rule if it becomes final, probably in 2024.