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Compensation & Benefits

FICA wage base, retirement contribution limits increase for 2014

10/30/2013
Uncle Sam has released new cost-of-living adjustments affecting Social Security tax withholding and retirement plans for 2014.

March of Dimes offers array of benefits to expectant employees

10/30/2013
CEO Dr. Jennifer L. Howse says the March of Dimes’ attention to employee benefits reflects its mission of supporting healthy families, starting with its own employees.

Can work continue during paid lunch break?

10/29/2013
Q. Our hourly employees have a paid 30-minute lunch break. Sometimes we ask them to do some work during that time. Is this OK since we pay them or are we required to provide them with a complete break?

Must we offer benefits to same-sex partners?

10/29/2013
Q. One of our employees claims she has a marriage certificate for herself and her female partner and now wants to put that partner on her insurance plan. Do we have to do that?

Worker fired for lack of wheels is eligible for unemployment

10/29/2013
A former employee of Bell Sociali­­zation Services in York has won unemployment compensation benefits after she was fired for not having “reliable transportation.”

EEOC: Even Guardian Angel must honor settlement

10/29/2013
Pittsburgh’s Guardian Angel Ambu­­lance Service faces an EEOC lawsuit alleging it breached a previous settlement agreement with a now-deceased former employee.

2014 holiday scheduling: Compare your plans to other employers

10/29/2013
Are you offering too many (or too few) holidays off work for your employees? To compare your holiday closing plans with those of other U.S. employers, review these findings of the 2014 Holiday Schedules survey by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) …

With ACA Web woes mounting, will SHOPs be delayed again?

10/29/2013
With Obama administration officials now stating that Healthcare.gov “will work smoothly for the vast majority of users by the end of November,” it seems reasonable to wonder when employers will be able to use the site to buy coverage for their employees under the Small Business Health Option Program (SHOP).

Two new California laws will cost employers in two ways

10/29/2013
California has two new laws affecting employers in the state. The first, signed into law in Au­­gust, applies to employers that prevail in wage-related lawsuits. It limits their ability to obtain attorneys’ fee awards. The second, signed in September, raises California’s minimum wage to $10 per hour by January 2016.

9th Circuit upholds CDIR’s apprenticeship crackdown

10/29/2013
The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that the California Department of Industrial Relations (CDIR) did not violate U.S. Department of Labor apprenticeship rules when it ordered three contractors to remove from public works projects apprentices who were enrolled in a federally run program.