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Compensation & Benefits

Final business: 5 steps to take when an employee dies

04/01/2014

Beyond its obvious emotional impact, an employee’s death almost always leaves unfinished business for HR and payroll. Follow these steps to help smooth the process when you’re notified of an employee’s death …

Set one standard for tardiness, stick with it

03/31/2014
Make sure you set one standard for determining how late “tardy“ is and how it’s measured. The best bet: Use a time clock.

Obama seeks to make more employees eligible for OT

03/31/2014
President Obama on March 13 ordered the U.S. Department of Labor to propose rules to “update and modernize America’s overtime pay system, so that millions of our nation’s salaried workers will have the protections of overtime pay.”

Real-world cost of health insurance: $270 per month

03/31/2014

The news is full of reports on the premiums being paid for health coverage acquired through the Affordable Care Act’s insurance exchanges. Depending on the political spin, they’re either onerously expensive or ridiculously cheap. Could the truth be somewhere in the middle?

OCSE sets parameters for standard Income Withholding Orders

03/31/2014
Just how standard must a standard child support Income Withholding Order be? Very standard, according to the Office of Child Support Enforcement, which created it and mandates its use.

New voluntary retirement savings program proposed

03/28/2014
Sen. Tom Harkin, D–Iowa, has introduced legislation to create a new government-backed private pension system allowing employees to put away up to 6% of pay each year.

April 2014: Employer’s business tax calendar

03/28/2014
NOTE: Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays as observed in the District of Columbia are taken into account to determine due dates. Under the federal deposit rules, you’re allowed a deposit shortfall of the greater of $100 or 2% of your tax liability.

How do we pay an employee who does ‘extra’ work?

03/27/2014
Q: An exempt employee will be paid to photograph the company’s annual charitable 10K run. HR would like Accounts Payable to handle it through a separate check, so no taxes would come out of the payment. This doesn’t sound right to Payroll. Who’s right?

How should we handle pay when employee works unauthorized overtime?

03/27/2014
Q. What can we do if our employees worked overtime despite our instruction that they shouldn’t?

T-shirt maker settles OT complaint for $171,000

03/27/2014
San Diego-based Fashion Graphics has agreed to pay back wages and penalties while voluntarily stopping all shipments until the $171,000 is paid to its current and former employees. The screen printer supplies such retail chains as Macy’s, Walmart, Kohl’s and Hot Topic.