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Compensation & Benefits

Senate tax proposal includes paid family leave measure

11/21/2017

The Senate’s mark-up version of tax reform proposes offering employers a partial tax credit for offering up to 12 weeks of paid family and medical leave.

Give ‘coupons’ to celebrate on a budget

11/21/2017

When she was getting her Denver product branding firm off the ground, Design and Image founder Deborah Williams couldn’t afford to give big holiday bonuses to her eight employees. Instead, she gave something almost as valuable: a book of coupons redeemable for work/life balance during the year.

Dependent care flexible spending accounts avoid House tax bill axe

11/14/2017

The version of tax reform legislation passed by the House Ways and Means Committee Nov. 9 retains popular dependent care flexible spending accounts.

Beware automatic deductions for meal times

11/09/2017

Take note if you automatically deduct meal periods from your hourly employees’ total hours worked: Although those deductions don’t violate the Fair Labor Standards Act, they can be dangerous.

Quitting for severance bars unemployment benefits

11/09/2017
Workers who quit their jobs and take a severance payment in ex­­change for dropping a potential lawsuit weren’t “forced” to quit because of something their employers did to make remaining employed impossible. They, therefore, aren’t eligible for unemployment compensation payments.

EEOC sues Estée Lauder over unequal leave benefits

11/08/2017
Cosmetic giant Estée Lauder faces charges its parental leave benefits discriminate against men.

‘Modest’ premium hikes for health benefits

11/08/2017

Annual family premiums for employer-sponsored health insurance rose an average of 3% to $18,764 this year, continuing a six-year run of relatively modest increases.

More employers institute 401(k) auto-enrollment

11/08/2017

More employers than ever are automatically enrolling employees in defined contribution retirement plans such as 401(k)s, according to a new survey by Alight Solutions, an HR consultancy that recently spun off from Aon Hewitt.

Tax reform legislation: House would spare 401(k)s, axe other benefits

11/02/2017

The House Committee on Ways and Means has released legislative text for tax reform—H.R. 1, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. If enacted, it would substantially change the fringe benefits you offer to employees. The bill retains tax-favored status for employee 401(k) plan contributions, but changes the tax status of other benefits.

Want fees with that? McDonald’s pays $1 mil

11/02/2017

The owners of 16 McDonald’s franchises in Pennsylvania have agreed to pay more than $1 million to settle charges they violated state law when they paid employees with fee-laden debit cards.