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Compensation & Benefits

Assure gender equity by assessing your operations

03/18/2021
The Biden administration is signaling it is serious about addressing pay disparities between women and men in the workplace. A White House executive order issued March 8 established a Gender Policy Council to help combat systemic, gender-based bias and harassment.

Double wages due for ignoring FLSA pay rules

03/18/2021
When the Department of Labor catches employers underpaying employees in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act, the penalty is to pay the amount owed—and then double it. If the underpaid employee hired an attorney to plead her case, then the employer may end up paying those legal fees, too.

Employers interested in ‘virtual-directed’ health plans

03/16/2021
In a post-pandemic world, more U.S. employers are looking to add virtual care and mental health benefits, according to a new report by the Aon consulting firm.

DOL rescinds 2 Trump-era wage-and-hour rules

03/16/2021
The Department of Labor moved March 11 to rescind two rules finalized by the Trump administration that the DOL now says significantly weaken protections afforded to workers by the Fair Labor Standards Act.

ARPA effect: Defections from your health plan?

03/16/2021
More Americans could qualify to buy health insurance from the Affordable Care Act’s state health insurance exchanges, thanks to a provision tucked into the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021. As a result, millions of workers could start shopping for coverage in the individual marketplace.

New coronavirus relief law affects HR’s work

03/16/2021
The $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 does more than provide for $1,400 stimulus checks and expanded unemployment benefits. It reaches into the HR function, extending employer subsidies for paid time off, offering government help to pay COBRA premiums and increasing the amounts employees may shelter from taxes in dependent care accounts.

Fix common pay errors before DOL investigates

03/11/2021
Managing restaurant employees isn’t easy. And unless HR provides frequent and accurate guidance, front-line managers may be tempted to devise their own questionable methods for simplifying scheduling and paying staff. Don’t let that happen.

HR’s next crisis: Managing the return of covid-19 ‘long-haulers’

03/09/2021
With covid-19 vaccination rates climbing and the worst of the coronavirus pandemic starting to recede, employers are becoming more optimistic that the world of work could soon return to normal. But the coast is not yet clear.

Pandemic harms women’s retirement readiness

03/09/2021
Women are saving less for retirement than men are, a trend that the coronavirus pandemic has made worse.

What’s in the Senate’s version of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021

03/08/2021
Saturday, the Senate amended and passed the latest round of pandemic relief—the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (H.R. 1319). The bill now goes back to the House, which must vote again.