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Compensation & Benefits

Beware high fees associated with alternative pay methods

02/07/2025
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has launched a lawsuit alleging that providers of wage-payment methods are charging exorbitant fees to workers who receive their pay via alternative means such as debit cards.

‘Right to disconnect’ might be next employee-protection trend

02/07/2025
The smartphones we carry in our pockets and purses give us 24/7/365 access to work-related phone calls, emails and texts—which gives our bosses 24/7/365 access to us. Thus, many managers expect their employees to be available to instantly respond to questions or solve problems. That is taking a mental toll.

The ERC: Not in the news, but definitely not forgotten

02/03/2025
The IRS is still plugging away at processing those Forms 941-X on which the employee retention credit is claimed. But it’s been busy doing other things, too, like ratcheting up its compliance efforts by sending out ERC recapture letters, which is exactly what it sounds like—the IRS wants its credits back, and if you don’t give them back voluntarily, it will take them.

March 2025: Employer’s business tax calendar

01/31/2025
Here’s your monthly guide to critical payroll due dates.

Bye-bye, so long, farewell: What to do with terminated employees’ 401(k) assets

01/30/2025
You have a fiduciary duty to at least try to locate employees who left their 401(k) plan assets behind when they terminated. The IRS and the DOL list measures that will satisfy this fiduciary duty, but what if you take any or all of those steps and still draw a blank?

The catch with the IRS’ proposed catch-up contributions regs

01/27/2025
Proposed regulations implementing SECURE 2.0’s requirement that employees earning more than $145,000 (as adjusted for inflation) make catch-up contributions on a Roth, after-tax basis come loaded with warnings and extra payroll responsibilities.

Create guardrails to make unlimited paid leave work

01/27/2025
In theory, the idea of offering employees unlimited leave should be a great incentive to encourage retention. Who would want to give up unlimited leave for a paltry one or two weeks of vacation and a bit of sick leave? As is often the case, the devil is in the details when it comes to unlimited paid-time-off benefits.

New DOL opinion letter tackles garnishment

01/24/2025
A new opinion letter from the Department of Labor has clarified how employers must calculate wages from which garnishment deductions are made. The letter explains that employers must not include tuition reimbursements in wages subject to garnishment.

With employees ambivalent about bonuses, consider boosting benefits instead

01/23/2025
Make no mistake, employees like bonuses—55% of respondents to a survey by the Agital marketing agency said annual bonuses improve their level of job satisfaction. They just like other things more.

In the Payroll Mailbag: February ’25

01/23/2025
Tax-free business meals or taxable working lunch? … Are rent subsidies tax-free?