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Compensation & Benefits

Benefits questions can trigger ERISA suit

10/18/2012
ERISA allows employees to sue if they believe they suffered retaliation for giving information or testifying in an ERISA proceeding. Until now, employers assumed that an employee had to at least make a formal complaint to the DOL before he could sue for retaliation. That’s no longer true.

Family health premiums rose 4% to $15,745 in 2012

10/17/2012
Annual premiums for employer-sponsored family health coverage reached $15,745 this year, up 4% from last year, with workers on average paying $4,316 toward the cost of their coverage, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation’s 2012 Employer Health Benefits Survey.

FICA wage base increases to $113,700 for 2013

10/16/2012
The Social Security Administration has announced that the 2013 taxable wage base for the Social Security portion of FICA increases to $113,700. That’s a 3.2% hike over the 2012 wage base of $110,100.

‘Flex’ benefits business, not just employees

10/16/2012
Flex is becoming as coveted by businesses as it is by employees. Organizations, it seems, need as much flexibility when it comes to staffing as employees do when it comes to balancing work with personal commitments. Here are seven ways your organi­zation can benefit as much as its employees do from offering time-and-place flexibility.

No unemployment benefits if employee quit before you had a chance to fix problems

10/12/2012
In Minnesota, employees can sometimes qualify for unemployment compensation if they quit because they had to endure tough working conditions. But that’s only true if they let their employer know about workplace problems and the employer doesn’t respond. Simply walking off the job in anger doesn’t cut it.

4-step checklist eases open enrollment process

10/11/2012
If you’re like most U.S. employers, your workers sign up for health insurance coverage during a two- or four-week span—known as open enrollment—in late October or early November. If you’re planning open enrollment for your 2013 plan year, follow this checklist.

The cost of new health care law? 14 cents a pizza

10/10/2012
The Papa John’s pizza chain made headlines recently when it became one of the first national businesses to estimate a specific per-customer cost of the Affordable Care Act. CEO John Schnatter figured the law will cost him between 11 and 14 cents more per pizza.

Common beef, even vulgarity, won’t rule out unemployment

10/09/2012
Employees who get into arguments may be violating workplace rules. But that doesn’t mean that firing them cuts off possible unemployment compensation benefits.

Haven’t been enforcing call-in policy? Start now

10/09/2012
If you haven’t been enforcing your rule requiring absent employees to call in every day, start now. Just make sure employees know you plan to enforce it going forward.

Ohio sushi chefs to slice up at least $100K in back pay

10/09/2012
Sushi Rock restaurants failed to ensure tipped employees made at least minimum wage, according to the DOL’s Wage and Hour Division. Now the chain must pay at least $100,000 in back pay, to be split among 54 employees.