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Compensation & Benefits

ACA: Health benefit waiting periods capped at 90 days

02/28/2014
Employer-sponsored group health plans cannot impose waiting periods that exceed 90 days after an employee is otherwise eligible for insurance coverage under a final Affordable Care Act rule issued Feb. 20 by the Obama administration.

Researchers: ACA will improve incomes of poor

02/28/2014
The ACA will raise household incomes for the poorest fifth of Americans, while higher income groups will experience small losses, according to a new Brookings Institution study.

Noncompete buried in benefit plan? Admin sets the terms

02/28/2014
Are some of your benefits—such as bonuses or other merit payments at retirement or departure—contingent on complying with a covenant-not-to-complete? Chances are the benefits plan administrator—not a federal court—will be interpreting the terms.

Spring forward March 9, calculate pay accordingly

02/28/2014
Daylight-saving time begins at 2 a.m., March 9. Graveyard-shift workers, therefore, will actually work only seven hours that day. Here’s how to calculate their pay.

March 2014: Employer’s business tax calendar

02/28/2014
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.

6 great perks from Fortune’s ‘100 Best Companies to Work For’

02/27/2014

Google earned the top spot on this year’s Fortune magazine list of “100 Best Companies to Work For” in part because of its array of amazing benefits. But the other 99 companies on the magazine’s list offer great perks, too. Which of these might work in your organization?

Must we hand over final paycheck, or is it OK to put it in the mail?

02/26/2014
Q. One of our employees is resigning at the end of the month. Can we mail her final paycheck?

Sometimes you can require repayment out of last check

02/26/2014

Do you offer a store credit card to your employees? If so, you likely want any balance due repaid if the employee quits or is fired. You may be able to get the employee’s agreement to repay the balance on termination out of his or her vacation or sick account balance.

Make sure handbook includes rules on off-the-clock work, missed break time

02/26/2014
With strong policies, employees (and their lawyers) will find it much harder to mount class-action wage-and-hour lawsuits. That’s because employees have to show that a common policy or practice was responsible for wage-and-hour violations.

Cover employee expenses–or prepare for court

02/26/2014

Now is a good time to make sure your employees are being properly reimbursed for expenses they incur while performing their jobs. The problem: If they aren’t reimbursed for those expenses, their pay may fall below minimum wage. And if that’s the case, they can quit and sue, alleging constructive discharge.