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Compensation & Benefits

Include travel time pay when figuring OT

02/22/2019
Do you have workers you pay a set amount for travel time from one location to another during the day? If so, that payment probably must be included in “hours worked” for calculating overtime payments for the week.

St. Paul’s $15 minimum wage will start phasing in July 1

02/22/2019
By July 1, 2022, the city government and large employers will have to pay workers $15 per hour. Small businesses will have until July 1, 2027 to hit that mark.

Minn. state legislature weighs health public option

02/22/2019
A proposal to expand MinnesotaCare will face a more friendly reception in this year’s state legislature, but still may face an uphill battle.

Court tightens unemployment comp ‘quit rule’

02/22/2019
In a recent decision, the Court of Appeals of Minnesota showed it is reluctant to give leeway under an unemployment compensation benefits rule that sometimes allows a worker receiving unemployment benefits to quit a new job if the worker deems it “unsuitable” to his skills and experience.

Get an A+ for supporting employees’ education

02/21/2019
A private letter ruling from the IRS may provide you with a novel option to help employees through your 401(k) plan.

In the Payroll Mailbag: March ’19

02/21/2019
No, this isn’t a valid W-4 … No, that’s not the employee’s official start date

DOL clarifies how to calculate exempts’ total pay

02/21/2019
The Department of Labor concluded in an opinion letter to an inquiring employer that its pay plan didn’t satisfy the Fair Labor Standards Act, because employees’ actual pay didn’t bear a reasonable relationship to their guaranteed weekly pay.

Group health plans have new reporting responsibilities

02/21/2019
A new federal law, the Substance Use–Disorder Prevention that Promotes Opioid Recovery and Treatment for Patients and Communities Act (SUPPORT ACT), expands the Medicare-as-secondary-payer rule.

Labor/ERISA penalties have been updated for 2019

02/21/2019
The Department of Labor has announced the 2019 inflation adjustments to penalties for violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act, the FMLA and ERISA.

Manager’s lies are no excuse for failing to deposit taxes

02/21/2019
Almost nothing will excuse a failure to deposit payroll taxes. Reason: Depositing payroll taxes is a nondelegable duty, so even if you assign this task to someone inside or outside the company, you’re still on the hook if your taxes aren’t deposited.