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Compensation & Benefits

4.2% employee Social Security rate extended through February 2012

12/31/2011
After weeks of wrangling, the House of Representatives and the Senate on Dec. 23, 2011 agreed to extend a 2 percentage point payroll tax cut for two months to buy time for talks on a full-year renewal. President Obama immediately signed the bill into law. The vote removes employer uncertainly about how to handle payroll withholding starting Jan. 1, 2012.

Chicago’s City Colleges take charge of leave, insurance

12/30/2011
The City Colleges of Chicago has ended its practice of allowing em­­ployees to “cash out” sick days when they quit their jobs. The policy applies to administrators and nonunion employees hired after Jan. 1, 2012, and is a first change resulting from a comprehensive review of benefits ordered by the school’s chancellor last fall.

Health premiums rose faster than pay

12/28/2011
Premiums for health benefits rose faster than employee pay in all 50 states from 2003 to 2010. Total premiums for family coverage—what employers and employees pay—increased 50%, and employees’ annual share of premiums increased by 63%.

IRS travel rules: Panama Canal, here we come!

12/28/2011
If em­­ployees attend a business convention in Europe, you can’t reimburse their business expenses on a tax-free basis unless they demonstrate that the convention’s location satisfies heightened standards of reasonableness. But employees who attend business conventions in North America need only establish the familiar elements of the accountable plan rules for their reimbursements to be tax-free …

Employer wins commute dispute

12/28/2011

Employees must be paid for their pre-shift or post-shift activities, if those activities are integral and indispensable to the performance of their principal jobs. That can stretch a workday and possibly require you to pay for employees’ commuting time. But not all pre-shift or post-shift work is the same.

Good news and bad news from the feds

12/27/2011
Good news: A new EBSA website offers valuable information you can use to educate your employees about their benefits. Bad news: One of EBSA’s goals for the new site is to make it easier for employees to file complaints about their benefits.

Airline’s ‘Customer Cup’ prompts friendly competition

12/22/2011

American Airlines recognizes em­­ployees at five airports each quarter to promote friendly competition for better customer service. “Customer Cup” awards are categorized by market size, from largest to smallest stations according to flight activity.

Beware management push-back on HR decisions

12/21/2011
As an HR professional, you may come across employment practices that you think violate the law. What you do with that concern and how you express it may make the difference between engaging in protected activity or not—and by extension, whether you can sue for retaliation if upper management punishes you.

Create time sheets in MS Excel

12/21/2011
It’s easy to set up a simple time sheet in Microsoft Excel. All MS Excel versions have a “Time Card” template with the basics.

How flexible is starting pay in your organization?

12/20/2011
Most employers offer at least some flexibility to tweak starting pay.