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Compensation & Benefits

Is there a formula for grossing up benefits for same-sex partners?

12/02/2012
Q: The company grosses up the fair market value of health benefits provided to employees’ same-sex domestic partners. One employee already had family coverage for his children before he enrolled his partner. How is the gross up calculated, if the cost of coverage doesn’t increase because the plan charges employees a flat amount for family coverage, regardless of the number of individuals covered?

Go ahead and trim the tree–while keeping your party liability-free

12/01/2012

The holiday spirit is spreading! A new survey shows that more than 83% of employers are planning year-end holiday parties this year, up from 68% in 2011. But for us worrywarts in HR, all that good cheer means more fretting about alcohol-fueled liability. Here are 12 tips for making spirits bright without having to call a lawyer — plus a rundown of the 10 worst workplace party fouls.

Motel cleaned up at housekeepers’ expense

11/30/2012
Veer Investments—which ­operates an America’s Best Value Inn & Suites motel in Charlotte—careened wildly off course when it decided to ignore almost all the basic requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act.

Overtime settlement puts dent in body shop’s profit

11/30/2012
Jacksonville-based Brynn Marr Body Shop has agreed to settle overtime complaints filed by 15 employees, following an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division.

Choose: Create light-duty job or keep paying workers’ comp

11/30/2012
The job market is tough for poorly educated, untrained injured workers. However, unless you want to continue carrying such workers on your workers’ compensation policy rolls, it might be smart to do all you can to find light-duty jobs for them.

Clients out of luck to recover embezzled payroll deposits

11/30/2012
A court has ruled that the IRS doesn’t have to return to defrauded clients a bankrupt payroll service bureau’s tax deposits that were collected from them but were used to make deposits for other clients. The defrauded clients, therefore, have paid twice …

Keep your holiday pay & bonuses legal: 4 simple steps

11/30/2012
Don’t confuse Uncle Sam with Santa Claus. When it comes to violating pay laws around the holidays, the feds won’t be generous if your organization is on the naughty list. Here are four rules to make sure holiday pay complies with the FLSA and IRS rules.

Hello, SSA? Can you help me? I need to delete a file

11/29/2012
If you need to delete a file that was sent by mistake, the Social Security Administration doesn’t want to hear from you anymore. Instead, you can delete any file prior to processing through the SSA’s Submission Status app.

New IRS ruling differentiates between tips, service charges

11/28/2012
Regardless of what you call it, tips are amounts customers willingly determine and leave of their own accord; service charges are added to the bill. According to a new IRS revenue ruling, service charges are immediately taxable as wages; tips are taxable when employees report them to you.

You can do it! How to build a better W-2

11/27/2012
This year, completing W-2 forms will be even more challenging for employers that must report employees’ health benefits. Here’s the scoop on what you need to know to get W-2s right the first time.