Compensation & Benefits

It ain’t over ’til it’s over, and maybe not even then

03/10/2025

An employee who was fired sued his employer for age discrimination under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act. In response, the employer demanded that the employee arbitrate his case, and the employee acquiesced. At this point, the employee could have asked the trial court to issue a stay, which would have kept the case open. Instead, he agreed to have his case dismissed without prejudice.

Beware new class-action threat targeting smoker surcharges

03/10/2025

Employees claim Whole Foods’ benefits plan violates ERISA because plan administrators aren’t acting in the smoking employees’ best interests when they refuse to refund surcharges after employees quit using tobacco products.

Pay-equity audit? Be prepared to show your work

03/07/2025

To avoid litigation, many employers conduct internal audits to ensure pay equity when employees perform substantially identical work. If you decide to run a pay-equity audit, be prepared to show exactly how you conducted it.

Supreme Court identifies catch-22 with state unemployment benefits process

03/04/2025

The pandemic upended the unemployment benefits process. So many employees were applying for benefits, state agencies became overwhelmed. But pandemic or not, these agencies still need to function properly, the Supreme Court has ruled.

Court says DOL can use salary level to determine exempt classification

03/03/2025

The Biden administration’s bid last year to raise the white-collar overtime salary threshold from $35,568 per year to $58,656 is dead, the victim of a series of court rulings that said the Department of Labor overstepped its authority by mandating such a big jump. However, one aspect of the OT threshold process stands.

April 2025: Employer’s business tax calendar

02/28/2025

Here’s your monthly guide to critical payroll due dates.

Follow-up on immigration enforcement

02/27/2025

We’ve already covered the new administration’s immigration enforcement priorities. But there’s more to consider.

SECURE 2.0 challenge, part 11: Auto-enrollment 401(k) plans

02/25/2025

The IRS has already released key guidance on SECURE 2.0’s mandate that all 401(k) plans established after Dec. 29, 2022, be auto-enrollment plans, beginning with the 2025 plan year. Proposed regulations now round out and encompass this previous guidance.

Poll: Cost of health care is now biggest economic problem

02/24/2025

Health-care affordability is a “very big problem” according to 67% of surveyed adults.

Global retirement fund assets climb to record $58.5 trillion