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Compensation & Benefits

What if we can’t set up direct deposit fast enough to deliver final paycheck in time?

03/14/2012
Q. A recently terminated employee demanded immediate payment of his wages and asked us to directly deposit the check into his bank account. I know that Minnesota law requires us to pay the wages through the employee’s last day of employment within 24 hours of his demand. While this employee was normally paid through direct deposit, we cannot coordinate a direct deposit within 24 hours. Can we just send the employee a check by mail?

Flat rate leads to lump-sum settlement

03/14/2012
A federal court has ordered Roseville-based Aspen Nursing Services to pay more than $210,000 in back wages and liquidated damages to 22 employees in Kentucky and Ohio.

Taking part-time job during medical leave isn’t misconduct

03/14/2012

Employees out on disability or FMLA leave sometimes need to supplement their incomes. Taking a part-time job within medical restrictions is one solution. That may seem disloyal. But firing the employee will probably make her eligible for unemployment benefits.

8 tips to gain CFO’s wellness program buy-in

03/14/2012
If you want the C-suite to support employee wellness programs, show your chief financial officer the money. Here are eight suggestions that can help you convince your organization’s top brass that programs promoting health and wellness are good for your business’s bottom line:

State laws on vacation pay after termination

03/13/2012
Whether accrued vacation pay is due to an employee upon termination is determined by state law. This chart summarizes state vacation pay laws. Some states have no laws on this issue, which means that company policy should prevail.

Employees must receive health benefits summary & glossary

03/13/2012
Employees can’t be wise consumers of health care services if they don’t understand their group health plans. Final regulations for implementing the Affordable Care Act health care reform law fill this informational gap by requiring all group health plans (including grandfathered plans, self-insured plans and plans not covered by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act) […]

Payroll deduction agreements: Too broad for their own good?

03/13/2012
Question: Included in our new employee handbook is a standard payroll deduction agreement, which employees must sign and return to Payroll. There’s a clause in the agreement that says employees’ consent to payroll deductions includes, but isn’t limited to, miscellaneous deductions—faxes, phone calls and so forth. HR has told employees that if they don’t sign the agreement, then no deductions can be made. What does Payroll tell employees?

Cash out or roll over PTO: What are the tax implications?

03/13/2012
Q. Employees who don’t use all of their paid time off (PTO) lose it at the end of the company’s fiscal year. Management wants to amend this policy to give employees the option of selling back their unused PTO days to the company at their current pay rates or rolling over the PTO days into the next year. Before Payroll gives its final OK to this plan, we’d like to know if we’re missing anything.

IRS sets rules for taxing damage awards

03/13/2012
Final IRS regulations exclude from taxpayers’ gross income damage awards for personal physical injuries or illness received from a lawsuit or in settlement of legal claims. The regs delete the requirement that to qualify for the tax exclusion, damages must be based on a tort or tort-type right.

Report: IRS correspondence audits need improvement

03/13/2012

The IRS recently announced that it has begun conducting correspondence audits of employers that took the 6.2% Social Security tax credit authorized by the 2010 Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment Act. The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration has concluded that the audit program remains error-prone, and that those errors affect taxpayers’ rights.