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Compensation & Benefits

When the school bell rings, do some employees go missing?

08/09/2012

The beginning of the school year can be fraught with stress and tension for kids and their parents, too. Result: less productive and often absent employees. Reminder: The federal FMLA doesn’t cover employees who take time off for school visits or to care for kids who aren’t seriously ill but who must stay home from school. Some state laws do.

Columbus graphics firm must return pension funds

08/07/2012
Officers and owners of Columbus-based Clark Graphics must pay back more than half a million dollars to the company’s two pension plans after federal investigators found that the money went missing because of lax oversight.

Use greater experience, extra skills to justify why you pay some employees more than others

08/07/2012
Some employees wrongly assume that discrimination must be to blame if someone doing the same work earns more than they do. But even under the Equal Pay Act, employers are allowed to value employees with more highly specific skills and experience.

To B or not to B: Tips for handling B Notices

08/06/2012

It’s no secret that a large contributor to the tax gap—the difference between the taxes that are paid and the taxes that are owed—are independent ­contractors who don’t have taxes withheld from their payments. B Notices, properly called CP 2100/2100A notices, which require payers to backup withhold, are a key tax collection tool.

What employers must do now to meet Affordable Care Act deadlines

08/03/2012
When the U.S. Supreme Court decided in June to uphold most of the provisions of the Affordable Care Act health care reform law, the clock started ticking on a number of benefits-related deadlines employers must meet. From summaries of bene­­fits and coverage to health care flex funds to health benefits reporting on 2012 W-2s, now is the time to review your health insurance obligations.

Clear the decks now for year-end Payroll processes

08/03/2012

As the hot, sticky air of summer clears out, now is the time for you and your employees to do some clearing out of your own. The payoff: A smoother year-end Payroll ­process.

Deloitte ‘grosses up’ pay to cover tax on domestic benefits

08/03/2012
Deloitte has adjusted the salaries of employees who include domestic partners on their medical or dental plans to help offset the taxes they have to pay on the benefit. The perk is available to employees living with same- or opposite-sex registered domestic partners.

Should we withhold child support from payments to contractor?

08/02/2012

Question: Our company contracts with an employee who quit and started his own business. We know he had a child support withholding order in place and that the order remains in effect. Must we continue to withhold child support?

The summer doldrums don’t have to get you down

08/02/2012
August is a slog. Forget the heat and humidity by organizing your Payroll tasks for the next four months.

What’s the timing on E-Verify case files?

08/01/2012

Question: If employees don’t have List A, B or C documents and must use replacement receipts to verify their identify and work eligibility, when can the employer create a case file in E-Verify?