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Compensation & Benefits

10 hot gifts on employees’ holiday wish lists

12/02/2013
A year-end bonus isn’t the only way an organization can say “Happy Holidays!” to hard-working employees. Here are 10 alternatives to cash:

FMLA: Military Family Leave

12/01/2013

HR Law 101: The National Defense Authorization Act of 2008 granted new leave rights to family members of men and women who serve in the military. Because the NDAA amended the FMLA, the changes apply only to employers with 50 or more employees.

Is probationary employee entitled to holiday pay?

11/29/2013
Q. Are we required to offer holiday pay to employees who are within their 90-day probationary period? Or can we start paying extra for holiday work only after the probationary period is complete?

December 2013: Employer’s business tax calendar

11/29/2013
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.

SHRM survey: Employers set 2014 holiday schedules

11/28/2013
Most full-time employees (78%) will receive six to 10 paid holidays per year, while most part-time workers (51%) will receive up to five paid holidays per year, according to SHRM’s 2014 Holiday Schedules survey.

How should we handle time tracking for nonexempt telecommuters?

11/27/2013
Q. We try to be a flexible workplace and sometimes get requests from employees to work from home for a day or two during school breaks and so on. I don’t have a problem with this for exempt em­­ployees, but what about hourly ones? How do we track that time?

Supreme Court to rule on ACA contraceptive mandate

11/27/2013
The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear two cases arguing opposite sides of the debate on an ACA provision requiring employer-provided health insurance to cover birth control.

Penalties rival incentives as work health tactic

11/27/2013
Employers will use both carrots and sticks to keep workers healthier and stem the tide of higher health care costs, according to the 2013/2014 Towers Watson Staying@Work Survey.

High-level managers have pay discretion? You’re courting a class-action lawsuit

11/26/2013
Broad discretion about compensation at the bottom of the pay scale usually prevents employees from pursuing a class-action lawsuit similar to the one in the Supreme Court’s 2011 landmark Wal-Mart v. Dukes case. However, all bets are off if the issue is pay for higher-level employees.

IRS OKs dropping health FSA ‘use-it-or-lose-it’

11/26/2013
The IRS has announced that employers sponsoring health flexible spending arrangements can drop long-standing “use-it-or-lose-it” rules that require employees to forfeit FSA funds if they don’t claim reimbursements by the end of a plan year.