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Compensation & Benefits

The gender pay gap: 10 worst industries for women

05/04/2011
A new study by online content provider 24/7 Wall Street says the insurance/financial sector shows the biggest disparity in weekly earnings among males ($1,324 average) versus females ($872). The other industries showing the biggest pay gaps are:

Dallas company stiffed workers, now will pay back overtime

05/03/2011
A staffing company that provides workers for major hotels in the Dallas-Fort Worth area has agreed to pay more than $242,000 to employees after a U.S. Department of Labor investigation uncovered Fair Labor Standards Act violations.

4 ways to make telework work

05/03/2011
More than 33 million Americans now work remotely at least one day per month, according to the nonprofit WorldatWork. Here’s how work-from-home arrangements operate in organizations nationwide, according to a recent survey. Plus, learn what managers must do to make the most of their teleworking staff members.

Withholding taxes from arbitration award lands employer in court

05/02/2011
A federal trial court has directed an employer that appropriately withheld payroll taxes from an arbitration award to pay back the amount withheld to the employee. An employer must obey an arbitration award to the letter, the court ruled.

Electronic pay: There’s an app for that

04/29/2011
Is your direct deposit or paycard campaign a little long in the tooth? Now may be the best time to update it to encompass new communications media, such as smartphone apps. Leverage the technology for smartphone banking apps to sell direct deposit or payments via payroll debit paycards. You can go one step further and pair electronic pay with paperless deposit statements.

Is it legal to offer comp time?

04/28/2011
Q. Some of our full-time, salaried employees have to put in a lot of extra time for off-hours meetings and additional workload responsibilities. Is it legal to give these employees extra time off from work?

If employee voluntarily quits, must nonprofit employers offer COBRA coverage?

04/28/2011
Q. We’re a nonprofit organization and offer health insurance to our 100+ employees. If an employee is enrolled in the health plan and voluntarily resigns, are we required to offer COBRA? Or does our nonprofit status let us off the hook?

Can we offer cash incentives for employees to opt out of our health insurance plan?

04/28/2011
Q. We’re trying to reduce our group health benefit costs. Several employees are on both our plan and that of their spouses. They are willing to go off our group plan if we compensate them a certain amount of money each month. Is it legal to offer either medical insurance benefits or a cash alternative?

Lancaster approves same-sex benefits for city employees

04/28/2011
The city of Lancaster has adopted a policy that allows city employees to seek the same health care and other employment benefits for their same-sex partners that are now available to married employees and retirees.

2011 state laws regulating direct deposit and pay cards

04/28/2011
Most states prohibit employers from mandating that employees receive their pay electronically—whether through direct deposit or pay cards. Many states also forbid employers and banks from charging a fee if employees decide cash out all their pay with one transaction. Here’s a brief summary of state laws affecting direct deposit and pay cards.