• The HR Specialist - Print Newsletter
  • HR Specialist: Employment Law
  • The HR Weekly

Compensation & Benefits

Post-DOMA: Cafeteria plans given leeway for same-sex spouses

02/05/2014
Breathe a little easier if you have a cafeteria plan that, after the demise of the federal Defense of Marriage Act and before the IRS released guidance, allowed same-sex married employees to cover their spouses’ health insurance on a pretax basis or allowed them to seek reimbursement from health or dependent care flexible spending accounts.

Sample Request Form for Corrected/Reissued 2013 W-2s

02/04/2014
It’s almost inevitable that some employees will misplace their original W-2 statements. Here’s a sample form employees can use to request a reissued W-2.

Send the groundhog packing! Avoid repeating EFW2 mistakes

02/03/2014
In the movie “Groundhog Day,” the protagonist was destined to repeat the same day over and over again. If you’ll be e-filing your W-2s using the Social Security Administration’s EFW2 filing specs, you can avoid repeating filing mistakes by taking a stroll through this checklist.

S corps lose again on reasonable FICA-taxable pay

02/03/2014
In Watson v. U.S., an appellate court ruled that the IRS can recharacterize FICA-free distributions from S corps to their owners as FICA-taxable compensation, and allowed the IRS to set the parameters for determining that reasonable FICA-taxable salary. And so far it’s nailed S corps and their owners 100% of the time. Two recent cases illustrate.

How to keep staff happy & healthy: Free food!

01/31/2014
Feeding employees is a fast-growing perk that can benefit staff and employer alike. Organizations of all sizes find that even occasional meals or simple snacks can reap many benefits. If you’re considering offering meals as an employee benefit, follow these guidelines.

Final regs clarify the 0.9% additional Medicare tax

01/29/2014
You’ve been withholding and reporting the 0.9% additional Medicare tax for a year now. Good news: With the exception of clarifying the procedure you use to request relief from paying any additional tax if employees paid the tax with their 1040 forms, final regulations make no changes to the proposed regs.

Pay up promptly when offering severance

01/28/2014
Sometimes, it’s clear from the moment that you decide to terminate an em­­ployee that she will sue. If that’s the case, a small severance payment may prevent litigation. But if you offer to settle, make sure you follow through promptly.

ACA individual mandate could cost employers more

01/28/2014
Many employers anticipate spending more on health benefits this year as employees who previously declined insurance sign up in order to comply with the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate.

Is time that an employee spends on-call compensable?

01/28/2014
Q: An employee carries a company-issued smartphone so he can respond to emergencies over the weekend. He can usually resolve an issue with a phone call. How should we pay him—for the time he’s responding to an emergency or for all the time he has the phone?

2014 standard mileage rate decreases .5¢, to 56¢ per mile

01/27/2014
Reflecting a drop in gas prices, the IRS’ standard mileage rate—which you may use to reimburse employees who drive their own cars on business—drops to 56¢ a mile for 2014, down from 56.5¢.