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Compensation & Benefits

Feds offer free toolkit to help employees plan for retirement

05/10/2013
Help your employees jumpstart their retirement savings by pointing them toward a new planning toolkit prepared by the U.S. Department of Labor and the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards.

Failing to pay workers on time may cost you a big penalty

05/09/2013
In Minnesota, employees are supposed to be paid promptly and receive an accounting of their time worked. Failure to comply may mean you’ll have to pay a penalty.

Discovered wage-and-hour irregularities? Act fast to fix

05/09/2013
When it comes to paying hourly employees for all hours worked, the best policy is to fix any mistakes as soon as you can. Chances are, doing so will reduce your liability down the line.

Firing because you suspect thievery: Better be prepared to prove it

05/09/2013
Employees who steal from their employers violate their duty of loyalty. That makes them ineligible for unemployment compensation. That’s true even if the theft is small. But you must be prepared with clear testimony if you want to contest the worker’s right to unemployment benefits.

Heard about the ACA’s $63 per head reinsurance fee?

05/09/2013
Tucked into the Affordable Care Act’s fine print is a requirement for most group health plans that provide major medical coverage to pay a reinsurance fee to the Department of Health and Human Services in 2014, 2015 and 2016.

OT expectations take toll on working moms’ careers

05/09/2013
Working mothers are 52% more likely than other women to leave their jobs if they work more than 50 hours a week in a field dominated by men, according to researchers at Indiana University.

How should we apply the pretax contribution limits for 401(k)s?

05/09/2013
Q: An employee has asked if she can continue to make pretax contributions into her 401(k) plan even after her compensation reaches the annual salary limit of $255,000. Our benefits department has never encountered this question before. Can she do so?

Telework helps BBB group slash office space

05/08/2013
Employees of the Council of Better Business Bureaus spend nearly 30% of all their working hours at home. The 114-employee organization last year was able to move out of the office building it has occupied since the 1980s and into one about half its size.

Consider offering the best-ever retirement benefit

05/07/2013

When most employees change jobs, they either cash out previous 401(k) accounts (bad move) or roll them over into an IRA (better). Very few opt for what may be the very best money move: rolling retirement funds into a similar 401(k) plan at their new organization.

Injured worker? Contest unemployment if worker quits before giving you a chance to help

05/06/2013
Here’s some good news: As long as you are willing to accommodate an employee’s medical condition, you won’t face liability for unemployment compensation if she quits. And the employee has to tell you she needs that accommodation. If she just quits, she won’t be eligible.