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Compensation & Benefits

No unemployment after griping about paltry poultry bonus

01/03/2014
A Commonwealth Court has ruled that a veteran professional chicken catcher’s bad attitude was reason enough to deny him unemployment benefits. The man was fired from his job of five years with B&B Catching Services in Northumberland County for persistently squawking about what he perceived as a stingy 2012 holiday bonus.

EBSA sours on Sunkist’s retirement fund accounting

01/03/2014
A U.S. Department of Labor Em­­ployee Benefit Security Admin­­is­­tra­­tion (EBSA) investigation has revealed that Sunkist Growers and its fiduciaries improperly used retirement plan funds to pay salaries and benefits for several employees and managers.

Charlotte Burger King site of protest for higher pay

01/03/2014
Charlotte was one of several cities where fast food workers staged November protests calling for higher wages. The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) organized the protests to spotlight the low wages many in the fast food industry receive.

Snapshot: Low-wage workers worry more about job loss

12/30/2013
More than half of those earning less than $35,000 per year worry that a poor economy will cost them their jobs, according to a Washington Post poll. Better-paid workers aren’t as concerned.

High-deductible plans curb health care cost growth

12/27/2013
In the past four years, the cost of health care in the United States grew at about half the annual rate it did from 1990 to 2007. What accounts for the cost slowdown? Economists attributed much of the bending cost curve to the rise of high-deductible health insurance plans.

January 2014: Employer’s business tax calendar

12/27/2013
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.

Are retreat prizes taxable income?

12/24/2013
Q. We hold a team-building retreat every year where we give employees prizes after completing certain challenges. Are those prizes considered taxable income?

Slay the wage-and-hour dragon before it breathes class-action fire

12/24/2013
Employers increasingly understand the financial burden of defending wage-and-hour class-action lawsuits—not to mention possible settlement payments or damages following un­­suc­­cessful attempts to defend those suits. There are some practical steps you can take to dodge the threat of a costly class-action lawsuit.

‘New’ paid family leave arrives this summer

12/24/2013
More California employees will be eligible to take paid family leave starting July 1. That’s when grandparents, grandchildren, siblings and parents-in-law will be added to the list of relatives for whom caregiver leave is authorized.

Northstate restaurants face $1.8 million in W&H citations

12/24/2013
State Labor officials have fined two Ukiah restaurants more than $1.8 million for wage-and-hour violations involving 47 workers over a three-year period. The complaint alleged the workers were not paid minimum wage or proper overtime.