New bill expands retirement option: Key takeaways There may be more employees eligible to participate in your 401(k) plan – and they may be able to contribute higher amounts – if a new bill becomes law. Under the Setting Every Community UP for Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) Act of 2019, employers would have more options when [...]
Uniforms cause $16K minimum wage violation: Avoid deduction trouble Restaurant breaks the law with its repayment policy Employers often provide workers with uniforms, but if they’re paid for through pay deductions, it’s important to make sure employees still receive the minimum wage. Otherwise, it’s only a matter of time before the Dept. of Labor (DOL) [...]
Medical exams and drug test: Not paying workers cost company $200K Repeat offender didn’t track compensable time correctly Many employers require employees to have physical exams, drug tests or other procedures before reporting to work. This time is typically compensable, especially if tests are done during normal work hours. Companies that don’t reimburse workers for [...]
Time to start reporting EEOC pay data! Next steps for Payroll You’ll need earnings from Box 1 of Forms W-2 Summer might normally be a quieter season in Payroll. But not this year, due to new reporting responsibilities. In preparation for Component 2 of the EEO-1 Report, the EEOC online portal was ready to accept [...]
New option for offering workers tax-free benefits A new final rule from the Trump administration will give employers more options for providing nontaxable health benefits to their employees. The rule allows employees to use funds from a new individual coverage health reimbursement arrangement (HRA) to purchase third-party healthcare coverage. HRA advantages Allowing employers to use [...]
Record retention for Payroll: What’s required under federal, state regs Company disposed of workers’ old timecards too quickly Recordkeeping guidelines are just as important to the Dept. of Labor (DOL) as other wage and hour rules, especially when looking at timecards and other payroll records. If employers don’t keep accurate records of hours worked for [...]
This week, the Massachusetts Legislature and the Baker-Polito Administration enacted legislation to delay the start of employer and employee contributions to the Paid Family and Medical Leave program (PFML) by three months to October 1, 2019. This delay will allow employers across the Commonwealth more time to prepare their organizations and workforces for PFML. Please [...]
Company required employees to volunteer, owes $59K in back wages Why charitable work turned into compensable time Some companies may encourage workers to volunteer their time to charitable causes. But when volunteering becomes mandatory, it can cause issues if workers aren’t paid. One employer wasn’t compliant with the law’s guidelines on volunteering, and it paid [...]
IRS: Latest info on when free meals provided to employees are taxable New Memo answers common questions about on-site food The IRS just released some helpful guidance on a confusing scenario: whether to count free meals given to employees as taxable income. According to a new Technical Advice Memorandum (TAM), meals provided by employers are [...]
New DOL guidelines for regular rate: What Payroll must know Update to procedures for what to exclude Right on the heels of the new overtime threshold comes news that the Dept. of Labor (DOL) is updating the regs in the Fair Labor Standards Act that control the regular rage of pay --- for the first [...]
