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Compensation & Benefits

Start developing your open-enrollment communications plan now

04/19/2023
Experts say HR should begin making plans for open enrollment at least six months before employees make their benefits choices. If your 2024 open-enrollment period will start in November, that means your preparations must begin within weeks.

As workforce demographics change, consider offering benefits to help employees start families

04/17/2023
If you’re like most employers, chances are your workforce is changing. With baby boomers retiring, it’s likely skewing somewhat younger. The benefits you offer may need to change if you expect to stay competitive in an incredibly tight hiring environment. Here are some possible benefit additions.

A father-daughter chat about money and financial literacy

04/13/2023
April is National Financial Literacy Month. Payroll is the company department holding employees’ money, so take some time to educate them about it.

How much and when? The increase in the FLSA’s salary level for exempts is near (or not)

04/04/2023
Let’s be clear—no one knows what these regulations will contain. Nevertheless, it’s prudent to proceed as if these regulations will see the light of day next month.

DOL fills in details about the end of the COVID emergencies

04/03/2023
Once the two pandemic-related emergencies—the national emergency and the public health emergency—end May 11, group health plans can quit providing some benefits free of charge. On July 10, the statutory deadlines for electing health benefits snap back to their pre-pandemic normal. But there’s more to it, and the Department of Labor has issued FAQs clarifying just what’s going to happen on May 11 and July 10.

Biden’s first veto preserves ESG retirement plan fiduciary rule

04/03/2023
President Biden saved his first use of the presidential veto pen for an issue affecting HR. On March 20, he vetoed a bipartisan congressional resolution that would have overturned a Department of Labor rule that allows retirement plan fiduciaries to weigh environmental, social and governance factors when deciding how to invest plan funds.

Feel free to contact worker who’s on sick leave

04/03/2023
Employers should make it a point not to pester employees who are out on sick leave or ask them to perform work during their time off. However, that general principle doesn’t mean employers are absolutely forbidden to seek basic information from employees who are out sick.

Younger workers’ 401(k) balances grew fastest between 2016 and 2020

04/03/2023
Overall, increases reflect a compound annual average growth rate of 19.4%, with the average account balance rising from $78,008 at the end of 2016 to $158,361 at the end of 2020.

As calls for nationwide paid leave grow, several states already have laws on the books

03/27/2023
Momentum is growing to offer paid family and medical leave as a nationwide benefit. The White House’s fiscal year 2024 budget request called on Congress to appropriate $325 billion to fund up to 12 weeks of paid family and medical leave. 11 states and the District of Columbia already have laws that create a paid leave entitlement for eligible workers.

How does your company compare on total rewards?

03/23/2023
Total rewards are about much more than compensation. According to the WorldatWork association’s 2022 In Review: Total Rewards Inventory of Programs & Practices report, total rewards encompass best HR practices around work flexibility, performance management and employee benefits in addition to pay.