Practical HR Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
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.
If the individual mandate under health care reform is struck down, it will render the employer mandate meaningless, the American Benefits Council (ABC) argues in an amicus brief to the U.S. Supreme Court. ABC does not argue about the constitutionality of the individual mandate; instead it says that it is non-severable from the law’s insurance […]
Here’s one positive pattern in COBRA coverage lawsuits: Even if a plan administrator violated the COBRA law, if it acts reasonably under the circumstances, courts are inclined to mitigate the amount of any penalties. But even though the law is more than 25 years old, case law shows there’s still a learning curve about its […]
Heads of federal agencies would have the authority to reimburse employees for the taxes imposed on reimbursements of travel or transportation expenses their domestic partners incur when accompanying them on a business trip, under a bill introduced in the U.S. House on Nov. 18 — the Domestic Partnership Benefits and Obligations Act (H.R. 3485). The […]
The departments implementing health reform can turn around a project when they are under the gun. Responding to concerns that the new “summary of benefits and coverage” (SBC) mandated by the health reform law is redundant, HHS, DOL and Treasury/IRS quickly turned around a final rule that eases some SBC requirements. The final rule and […]
As a follow-up to its “Section 401(k) Compliance Check Questionnaire Interim Report,” the IRS will host a phone forum March 6. The phone forum will be hosted by Monika Templeman, Director of Employee Plans Examinations at the IRS, along with IRS employees Janice Gore and Rhonda Migdail. Submit any questions you have about the Interim […]
After increasing hammering from conservatives, the White House looks like it is ready to compromise on health reform’s contraception mandate. The administration had included contraceptives and sterilization in its list of preventive services all (except the few grandfathered) plans must cover starting plan years in August 2012. It had offered a year-long delay to religious […]
Everyone’s talking market pricing, but many are not doing it well. Even with limited resources, you can take the steps to align your pay structure with the market, says consultant Mary A. Rizzuti CCP, PHR. In today’s Advisor, Rizzuti, who is a principal at PHR Compensation Resources, Inc. in Upper Saddle River, NJ, shares her […]
In this post, we reported on new IRS proposed rules on purchasing qualified lifetime annuity contracts (QLACs) under certain retirement plans. Recently in his blog, an industry expert provided more details on the guidance’s significance. In his blog the Business of Benefits, Attorney Robert Toth Jr., explains how: With just a relatively short regulation and […]
Employers and plan administrators in California should continue to watch the pendulum regarding same-sex marriage in the Golden State, which has swung again. A three-judge panel of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 on Feb. 8 in Perry v. Brown, Nos. 10-16696, 11-16577, that Proposition 8, the ballot initiative that amended the […]
The economic environment presents comp managers with many challenges, but base pay management is at the head of juggling act, says compensation consultant Mary A. Rizzuti, CCP, PHR. How can we remain competitive with smaller budgets? In today’s Advisor, Rizzuti, who is a principal at PHR Compensation Resources, Inc. in Upper Saddle River, NJ, shares […]