Category: Benefits and Compensation

This topic provides guidance on how to handle compensation issues in a way that attracts and retains the best talent and advances the strategic goals of your business. You get news and tips on what’s going on nationally and in the states, and updates on changes in regulations, possible governmental action, and emerging compensation trends.

Do You Offer Life Insurance to Employees?

Insurance is one of the most common employee benefits employers opt to use to entice top talent to their organization. One such example is life insurance. It’s often quite affordable to provide because employers can get group discounts that are unavailable to individuals acting alone. Therefore, it provides coverage for employees at a lower premium […]

Survey: Majority of Employers Support Minimum Wage Hike

Momentum is building behind raising the minimum wage, coming at a time when workers at all pay levels are struggling with keeping their heads above water. According to a new CareerBuilder survey, 64% of employers believe the minimum wage should be increased in their state, up from 62% last year.

Finding Market Data for Tough-To-Find Jobs

By Sharon McKnight, CCP, SPHR Trying to find market data for some jobs may seem a little like searching for a needle in a haystack—tedious, time-consuming, and marginally successful. Often, the problem isn’t that no data is available but how we look for it.

Pay Transparency: What Are a Contractor’s Defenses?

By Susan Schoenfeld, JD In September 2015, the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) published a final rule implementing Executive Order (EO) 13665, Non-Retaliation for Disclosure of Compensation Information. The final rule and the EO prohibit federal contractors from discharging or discriminating in any way against employees or applicants who inquire about, discuss, or […]

Must You Pay Employees When They’re on Jury Duty?

Jury duty is one of our civic responsibilities as individuals, but it can be arduous—it takes time away from work and even in some cases, time away from family, too. This can raise legal and policy questions for employers. Must an employer pay an employee who is not working because he or she is required […]

Compensation Administration: Why Make It Formal?

Not every company has a formal name for it, but every organization that hires employees has to have an idea of what they’re willing and able to pay those employees. Pay and benefits may be determined ad hoc in many organizations, but there are actually a lot of benefits to creating a more formal structure […]

IRA Stock Equity Allocations Are On the Rise

According to new research conducted by the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI), owners of individual retirement accounts (IRAs) increased their stock equity allocations in 2013—the most recent year for which data are available—as compared with the three years prior.

90% of Companies Face Increase in Health Insurance Premiums

Despite the healthcare reforms implemented under the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, 90% of employers are facing increases in the premiums they pay for employee health plans. And nearly 25% of employers are seeing rate increases in the double digits says a new survey by Arthur J. Gallagher & Company.