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Compensation & Benefits

IRS loosens criteria for VCSP eligibility

03/26/2013

The IRS has made several permanent and temporary changes to its Voluntary Classification Settlement Program. Under VCSP, you can voluntarily reclassify independent contractors as employees for future tax periods on favorable tax terms. You’ll be liable for just over 10% of the wages paid to those reclassified workers for the past year; no penalties or interest will be due.

Golf firm finds hazard of missing paydays

03/25/2013
The DOL has ordered Charlotte’s Carolina Trail Golf Part­­ners to immediately tee up $758,465 in back wages for 347 workers at seven courses who recently went several weeks without getting paid.

April 2013: Employer’s business tax calendar

03/24/2013

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.

United Airlines opens employee clinic at O’Hare

03/22/2013
Any employee of United Airlines who passes through O’Hare International Airport may stop by the organization’s new health clinic for treatment of routine illnesses, flu shots, employment-related physicals and other services. The free clinic also is open to United’s 10,000 Chicago-area employees.

Learn how to count employees under ACA’s employer mandate

03/21/2013
Oddly, determining how many employees you have is one of the trickiest parts of the health care reform law. The answer matters: You could wind up paying big penalties next year if you miscalculate.

On meal and break pay, don’t expect a federal case

03/20/2013
Attorneys who represent workers on meal-and-break-pay claims like to keep those cases in state courts. Employers usually prefer the federal court system. But getting a case moved to federal court isn’t as easy as it used to be.

Court OKs mandatory tip pools for those who serve customers

03/20/2013
The Court of Appeal of California has finally answered a vexing question: Employers can order em­­ployees who receive direct customer tips to turn over some of the money to be redistributed to other employees who provide additional services.

In Chino, having too few time clocks costs $1 million

03/20/2013
The California Division of Labor Standards Enforcement has slapped citations worth more than $1 million on a warehouse company in Chino, alleging that 865 employees were cheated out of overtime pay they had earned, and didn’t get required 30-minute meal breaks.

Pregnancy problems? PDLL is minimum leave

03/20/2013
If an employee is experiencing pregnancy complications, it may not be enough to provide four months of leave under California’s Pregnancy Disability Leave Law. For practical purposes, four months is the minimum leave employers are required to provide. You may owe more time off under the California FEHA, as long as it doesn’t create an undue hardship on your business operations.

Consider ADA if sick worker needs more leave

03/20/2013
Employees who are temporarily unable to perform their jobs because of a disability are entitled to reasonable ADA accommodations. You’ll want to think about starting the interactive accommodations process as soon as a potentially disabled employee asks for more than the usual amount of leave.