Compensation & Benefits

Year-end: Expect the unexpected

10/09/2015

The mailbag this month holds questions about FICA and a quirk in the 2016 calendar.

DOL grants to fund research on paid sick and family leave

10/06/2015

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Women’s Bureau has awarded $1.55 million in grants to eight state and local employment and labor departments to research and analyze how paid leave programs can be developed and implemented across the country.

Am I allowed to institute a tip pool?

10/05/2015

Q. I manage a popular sports bar. May I institute a tip-pooling policy?

Health premiums steady, out-of-pocket costs spiral

10/05/2015

Single and family premiums for employer-sponsored health insurance rose an average of 4% this year, continuing a decade-long period of moderate growth, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation/Health Research & Educational Trust 2015 Employer Health Benefits Survey released Sept. 10.

Due dates changing for business tax returns

10/02/2015

Changing the due dates for C corps, S corps and partnerships to file business tax returns is included as a revenue-raising measure in the Surface Transportation and Veterans Health Care Choice Improvement Act of 2015.

Raises hold steady, but not for top performers

10/01/2015

After pulling back the reins on pay raises during the recession, employers have returned to handing out steady, but not spectacular, salary increases. But the one-raise-fits-all approach is dying off as more employers embrace pay for performance.

Two key ACA questions: Let the headaches begin

10/01/2015

Are health deductions required deductions for garnishment? And must we tax employees who are paid to forgo health benefits?

October 2015: Employer’s business tax calendar

09/30/2015

Here’s your monthly guide to critical payroll due dates.

No more automatic filing extensions for W-2 forms

09/27/2015

Under proposed, temporary and final regulations, you no longer will be able to request an initial automatic 30-day extension of time to file Forms W-2/W-3 with the Social Security Administration or an additional for-cause 30-day extension, for a total of 60 days.

Information return penalties set to increase next year

09/24/2015

Information return penalties are going up. Way up. Included as part of the Trade Preferences Extension Act of 2015 is a provision that increases penalties for failing to file Forms W-2, 1099 or 1095-C, or to provide forms to payees. Beginning with forms required to be filed next year, penalties increase as follows