Business Payroll and HR Blog
Employee Compensation and Benefits: Are You Competitive?
Do you wonder whether your employee compensation and benefits packages are competitive with respect to current market conditions and industry standards? It is an HR best practice to evaluate your company’s compensation and benefit programs on an annual basis. So...
Pregnancy Discrimination in the Workplace
Pregnancy discrimination in the workplace has been illegal for decades, since the passage of the Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA) back in 1978. The law, which was an amendment to the 1964 federal Civil Rights Act, prohibits businesses from making employment...
Workplace Flexibility: Trends and Insights
Are you looking for inexpensive yet effective ways to attract and retain top performers as skills gaps in the labor force widen and the fight for talent becomes fiercer? Evolving expectations about work have changed what it takes to satisfy workers, including:...
Closely Held Companies Permitted to not Provide Birth Control Coverage
In a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court ruled that the government cannot force a closely-held for-profit corporation to cover the cost of birth control for its employees, if doing so would conflict with a sincere religious belief of the owners. Under the Affordable Care...
Employee Recognition Program
One of the most important aspects of successful retention is an effective employee recognition program. When examining what employees are looking for in terms of benefits and pay, organizations often overlook employee recognition programs, which can be a very low-cost...
Medicare Surtax for High-Income Employees
Since the beginning of last year, employers have been required to withhold an additional nine-tenths of a percent for the Medicare surtax for high-income employees. The rules are somewhat complicated, so the IRS recently updated its frequently-asked questions on how...
EAP Benefits for Employees
It is estimated that an average employee working in the U.S. spends 53 working hours resolving family-related matters. This staggering figure supports the reasoning behind employer-sponsored Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs). Such programs help employees...
Compensable Work Activity
Decades ago, Congress fleshed out the definition of work, in an attempt to clarify what a compensable work activity is and what is not. Now the U.S. Supreme Court is preparing to take another look at the issue. Problems can arise when employees believe they aren't...