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Compensation & Benefits

California Supreme Court rules on handling meal and rest periods

05/18/2012
In April, the Cali­­for­­nia Supreme Court finally issued its opinion in Brinker v. Superior Court. In a major victory for California employers, the court issued clear rules on how and when employee meal and rest periods must be provided.

California’s wage-and-hour laws apply to everyone–even foreign-owned corporations

05/18/2012
Ignoring California’s wage-and-hour rules is a big mistake—no matter where an employer is based. When foreign-owned corporations assign employees to work in Cali­for­nia, California’s employment rules apply.

DOL to take a tough stance on enforcing tip rules

05/18/2012
The DOL recently gave the nod to national enforcement of regulations specifying that employees’ tips are their sole property, regardless of whether employers take the tip credit. This should serve as a timely reminder, since many teens and college students regularly earn tips during the summer.

Real-life HR: How to respond to a garnishment order

05/17/2012
Bankruptcies and foreclosures have been making the news for the past four years. But there’s a quieter side effect of the down economy that’s fraught with traps for unwary employers: The concurrent and growing trend of court-ordered or government-issued wage garnishments. Here are the basics you need to know if you receive an order to garnish an employee’s wages.

IRS proposes rules to help retirees make their 401(k) funds last longer

05/17/2012

Even if they’ve been diligently socking away money in their 401(k) plans, employees who are about to retire are no doubt nervous about their financial futures. The nagging question: Will their retirement savings last as long as they do? Believe it or not, the IRS wants to help.

Special analysis: What to do with electronic records

05/15/2012

Nowadays, IRS auditors ask for your electronic accounting records. But software files often contain data beyond the audit years, and software programs routinely create metadata for every data file created. So how do you keep the IRS from snooping around the personal and confidential business informations contained in those files?

August 2012: Employer’s business tax calendar

05/14/2012
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4 questions to ask about supplemental insurance

05/11/2012

Supplemental health insurance plans can build good will among employees, make your benefits package more competitive and enhance HR’s image. To make sure you secure the best coverage at the best prices, ask insurance brokers about the following topics.

Might we be covered by Minnesota’s OT rules?

05/10/2012
Q. We are a small employer and only have operations in Minnesota. I recently learned that Minnesota does not require overtime pay until after an employee has worked 48 hours in a workweek. Do we have to pay overtime after 40 hours or can we have employees work an extra eight hours before they are entitled to overtime?

Unused leave takes a bite out of municipal budgets

05/10/2012
It’s a benefit designed to retain long-term employees, but the practice of allowing retiring government ­workers to cash out unused leave may turn in­­to an actuarial time bomb. The prob­­lem: Local governments are shedding employees at a record pace, often through early-retirement packages. And the leave liability is largely unfunded.