Compensation and Benefits

Any out-of-the-ordinary benefits we can offer employees?

Question: “Does anybody offer employees a broad range of fringe benefits beyond the standard ones most companies offer, especially in light of the current...

COBRA Notification Requirements Must Be Taken Seriously

In a termination situation, employers are legally required to furnish ex-employees timely notice of their rights to health care continuation coverage under the...

Holding employee’s final paycheck to recoup company property

Q. Our company has a policy requiring employees who are leaving the company to participate in an exit interview. One of the requirements is to check that the terminated...

Duluth: Municipal retirees should sign up for Medicare

The city of Duluth says it can save up to $600,000 per year if 37 of its retirees sign up for Medicare. The city discovered during a recent audit that some of its...

Employees’ Risky Behaviors Raise HIPAA Concerns

Under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountablity Act (HIPAA), it's clear that health plans can construct wellness programs that penalize smokers by imposing...

Do we need an attorney to represent us during unemployment comp hearings?

Q. Should a Texas employer hire an attorney to represent it in an unemployment compensation proceeding where the claimant is represented by counsel? ...

Automatic 401(k) Enrollment: Benefits For Both Employers And Employees

Based on current articles in both the popular and business press, it should come as no surprise that Americans are currently not saving adequately to fund their...

Employees live on premises? Here’s how to compensate

Do you require some employees to live on the premises so they can be on call to provide emergency or other services? If so, you can structure the compensation system to...

KPMG attracts, retains employees with generous paid vacation time

When global accounting firm KPMG hires a new employee, that recruit gets five weeks of paid vacation time—on Day One ...

Wage assignment and employers’ responsibilities

Tough economic times raise some tricky HR issues—for example, when an employee’s financial straits begin to affect his employer ...

Paying back ‘Borrowed’ vacation leave

Q. We allow our employees to “borrow” unearned vacation time. Our policy provides that if employees quit or are terminated with a “negative”...

Are you at-risk if you hand out over-the-counter drugs to employees?

Question: “Is it OK to keep medicine on-hand to give employees as needed (e.g.,Advil, Tylenol, Excedrin, Motrin)? I keep these meds on my desk (as do a lot of...

Changing benefits plans? Make transition accurate, timely

Benefits are increasingly expensive to provide, and sometimes employers have to make changes to remain competitive. Be aware, though, that you need to implement any...

Fighting a Union Campaign: What Employers Can and Can’t Do

TWC to share information on employment tax schemes with IRS

The Texas Workforce Commission (TWC) recently agreed to tell the IRS about employers that fail to properly pay state unemployment insurance taxes. The TWC joins 28 other...

Former employee working ‘Under the table’ can lose future unemployment benefits

Former employees who collect unemployment sometimes work “off the books” while collecting payments. That’s illegal, of course. Those found to have...

Putting a cap on vacation time accrual

Q. Our company’s vacation policy provides that once an employee earns 240 hours (or 30 days) of vacation, no additional vacation may be accrued until the balance...

Do temporary employees count?

Q. We’re a small company with about 45 employees, but we have another 20 employees who are temporary. Do we have to count the temps when complying with the EEO or...

COBRA notice for new hires

Q. What are our obligations under COBRA when we hire a new worker?—T.J. ...

AK Steel uses VEBA to settle retiree health care lawsuit

AK Steel settled a lawsuit with a group of retirees from its Middletown Works by transferring their health care coverage to a voluntary employees’ beneficiary...