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Compensation & Benefits

Two 401(k) plans, two Section 415 limitations?

09/01/2012

Question: Several employees want to participate in two multi-employer 401(k) plans, but their combined contributions would exceed the Section 415 limitations on overall contributions. Can the employees legally participate in both plans during the same year?

No unemployment if employee quits during investigation

09/01/2012
An employee who quits during a suspension and pending investigation isn’t eligible for unemployment benefits.

Payback’s a b&+%#! How to handle 401(k) plan loans

08/31/2012

401(k) plans don’t have to allow employees to borrow from their vested account balances. But if they do, the news is grim. According to a recent survey, about 10% of employees who borrow from their 401(k) plans default. The default percentage skyrockets to 80% if employees terminate with outstanding loans.

Are payments excludable from our nurses’ incomes?

08/30/2012

Question: We run a rural health clinic. We know that payments made under certain programs that encourage health care professionals to work in underserved areas are tax-free. Do these payments fall into that category?

When must I-9 forms be updated?

08/30/2012
Question: What should an employer do if a client requires the employer to obtain new I-9 forms from all employees who will be working on the client’s premises?

Honest! You don’t have to sweat a tax audit anymore

08/29/2012
Ignoring the IRS won’t make a tax audit go away, advises a senior policy analyst at the IRS. In fact, the opposite is true—ignoring a notification of a payroll audit means that you give up your chance to tell your side of the story and set the record straight.

Payroll records: Know exempt, nonexempt timekeeping requirements

08/28/2012
Employers subject to the Fair Labor Standards Act must keep rec­­ords for both nonexempt and exempt employees. The regulations don’t say which types of record-keeping or time­­keeping methods you should use, but they do specify the necessary data you need to maintain on all employees. Here’s the guidance you need to stay in compliance.

Balance due on your 2011 Form 940? Maybe not

08/27/2012
Credit-reduction states are listed on Schedule A of the 2011 Form 940. If you do business in one of those 20 states, and you receive a balance-due notice from the IRS, don’t despair.

Prepare now for the ‘fiscal cliff’ that looms Jan. 1

08/27/2012
Unless Congress acts soon, the end of this year will see the expiration of an unprecedented number of tax provisions. That could cause havoc with your Payroll operations, as the IRS will be forced to delay issuing the 2013 tax tables and, critically, the 2013 withholding tables.

Pennsylvania recognizes workers who help cut state costs

08/27/2012

Pennsylvania state officials are en­­couraging government employees to figure out ways to spend less money and work more efficiently. Gov. Tom Corbett put out the call for “innovation initiatives” in March, and so far, 130 are in progress.