Compensation & Benefits

FSAs, HSAs, HRAs: Decoding the alphabet soup of group health plan add-on accounts

08/26/2021

Almost all health plans offer add-on accounts—health flexible spending accounts, health savings accounts or health reimbursement accounts. You need to know how these accounts differ so you can communicate about them to employees. Here are the basics.

Pay some teleworkers less based on location?

08/26/2021

It may be time to rethink how much you pay remote employees. Some large employers already have. If you are considering adjusting your compensation strategy for remote employees, expect backlash. Two tactics will make it easier to weather the criticism.

Welcome to our three-hurricane Friday wrap

08/20/2021

Let’s talk FIRE system improvements, new employer guidance from OSHA, new per diem rates and more.

Cost of diverting prevailing wages: $20 million

08/19/2021

A Pennsylvania construction contractor pleaded guilty earlier this month in what is thought to be the largest criminal prevailing-wage theft case in U.S. history. The cost for short-changing employees who worked on state paving contracts: $20 million.

U.S. employers planning larger pay raises for 2022

08/17/2021

Pay raises are making a comeback. U.S. companies plan to give employees larger raises next year as they recover from the economic fallout from the pandemic and face mounting challenges attracting and retaining employees, according to a new survey by the Willis Towers Watson consulting firm.

Apply leave policy equally to all employees

08/13/2021

You probably have a well-defined leave policy that gives employees time off for vacations, illness and tending to personal business. Whether you provide separate pots of leave or lump it all into paid and unpaid time off, your leave policy must treat all employees equally.

Education perks become a key retention tool

08/13/2021

Employers aren’t just struggling to attract new workers; they’re scrambling to retain current employees, too. Enter the education benefit wars. Large employers are betting that paying employee tuition will be a key retention tool.

Rule would raise minimum wage for federal contractor workers to $15

08/10/2021

The Department of Labor has issued a proposed rule raising the minimum wage for employees working on federal contracts to $15 per hour.

Health insurers say covid unlikely to affect 2022 costs

08/10/2021

After a tumultuous year of unpredictable covid-related effects on health care delivery and spending, a review of early rate filings for insurers participating in Affordable Care Act marketplaces finds that most are expecting a return to normal in 2022.

DOL plans to explore raising exempt overtime threshold again

08/03/2021

The Department of Labor has confirmed it is reviewing the exemptions of executive, administrative and professional employees from the overtime requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act.