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Compensation & Benefits

Result is costly for taxpayer who chose wrong FedEx service

01/25/2013

Timely mailing is timely filing. This “postmark rule” applies to documents sent to the IRS or Tax Court via the U.S. Postal Service, and to certain services provided by IRS-designated private delivery services. Warning: If you’re going to use a private delivery service, be sure that the IRS has sanctioned that particular service.

IRS issues more Medicare FAQs

01/24/2013
Along with the proposed regulations on the 0.9% additional Medicare tax, the IRS has updated and supplemented its questions and answers regarding this new tax. The latest FAQs stress that the additional tax applies per employee.

Employee health benefits notification begins March 1

01/23/2013
The Affordable Care Act health care reform law requires you to provide current employees and new hires with a notice regarding health insurance coverage, beginning March 1.

For pay statements, does ‘total hours worked’ include vacation and PTO?

01/22/2013
Q. We realize that California requires pay statements to show “total hours worked,” but we’re confused about what exactly this means. Does this include vacation or paid time off that employees have earned?

What should we do? Client asked us not to assign employee who is now out on workers’ comp

01/22/2013
Q. Our company provides services to nursing homes. One of our therapists recently went out on wor­k­­ers’ compensation leave. The facility where she worked has since asked us not to reassign the employee back to its facility. However, we don’t have other placement options for this worker. Do we have any options?

San Francisco grocer held too much green

01/22/2013
The San Francisco grocery store chain Casa Guadalupe and its owner have agreed to pay more than $120,000 to settle a wage-and-hour lawsuit filed by the DOL. The owner admitted to investigators that he willfully failed to issue time-and-a-half overtime pay to employees who worked more than 40 hours in a week.

New California rules for commission compensation contracts

01/22/2013
A new law for 2013 requires Califor­nia employers that pay regular commissions to provide employees with a written contract detailing the formula for calculating commissions, as well as the method of payment.

New pregnancy protections ring in the New Year in California

01/22/2013

California employees now enjoy ex­panded pregnancy rights after new Fair Employment and Housing Commission regulations took effect Dec. 30, 2012. The regulations bar employers from discriminating against employees for virtually any pregnancy-related condition.

Bonuses bounce back, with push from the top

01/22/2013
Bonuses are back, according to research conducted by the Hay Group. But with a pragmatic nod to today’s austere business environment, employers are taking a hard look at why they’re dishing out variable pay, what they want it to accomplish and how they decide who gets how much.

Employers have leeway in docking exempts’ pay

01/18/2013
Employees must receive a guaranteed salary of $455 a week and perform exempt duties to be exempt from the Fair Labor Standards Act’s minimum wage and overtime provisions. But that doesn’t mean you can never dock their pay.