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Compensation & Benefits

Regs outline IRS whistle-blowers’ rights and responsibilities

08/10/2011
It’s not exactly WikiLeaks, but Payroll administrators who are distressed over other employees’ alleged violations of the tax code can work with the IRS’ Whistleblower Office to expose tax law violators. Final regulations set some of the ground rules for cooperating with the IRS in whistle-blower investigations.

FUTA surtax expired: Now what?

08/10/2011

The 0.2% “temporary” FUTA surtax, which has been in effect since 1976, expired at the end of June. So far, Congress hasn’t introduced legislation to extend it. But if the surtax is re-enacted retroactively?

Filing False W-4s Lands Employee in Prison

08/10/2011
A federal appeals court has upheld the conviction and 21-month prison sentence of an employee who filed W-4 forms on which he falsely claimed an exemption from income tax withholding. The ruling raises the ante for tax protesters who commit W-4 fraud.

Worker lost $700: Can we make him pay it back?

08/10/2011
Q. One of our employees ran an errand for us to pick up $700 in cash. He says he lost it. Can we make him pay it back?

New HHS rules ban co-pays, deductibles for women’s health services

08/09/2011
Starting next year, employer-provided health insurance plans will have to offer a variety of women’s preventive services—such as well-woman visits, breastfeeding support, domestic violence screening, and contraception—without charging co-pays, co-insurance fees or deductibles. Find out what the new rules cover and when your health plan must comply.

Better pay, longer hours? Beware pay bias suit

08/08/2011
Here’s a scary hypothetical: A female exempt employee comes into HR to complain about sex discrimination and pay bias. She tells you she works for a male supervisor; two men hold the same position she does. Her hourly rate based on a 40-hour workweek is higher than either of the men’s. But she argues that her supervisor makes her work longer hours. She says that’s pay discrimination. What do you tell her?

Interns aren’t just free labor: How to comply with the FLSA

08/08/2011
With job markets tight and employers shunning applicants with long, unexplained résumé gaps, the ambitious unemployed are opting for unpaid internships. On the surface, that looks like a win-win: The employer gets free labor in exchange for valuable training. The intern also builds skills and prevents big résumé holes. But before you get carried away by the prospect of marvelous production for virtually no cost, let’s have a reality check.

All together now: Teaching workers to ‘manage’ their bosses

08/02/2011
Pay-for-performance is effective only when managers spell out for each employee exactly what he or she must do to get paid more or reap perks like flexible scheduling. In reality, too few managers do that. They need to know supervision is a two-way street. Solution: Sometimes employees must “manage the boss.”

Worker lost $700: Can we make him pay it back?

08/02/2011
When an employee loses company property or money, what recourse do employers have to recoup their loss? It depends on the applicable state wage law … and on whether you believe the “loss” was really accidental.

What should we do? We suspect string of workplace injuries might be workers’ comp fraud

08/01/2011
Q. We’ve had an exceptional number of suspicious injuries at work so far this year. We don’t want to jump to conclusions, but how can we determine if these injuries are part of a workers’ comp insurance fraud scheme?