Becoming an employer of choice is about positioning your company in a way that makes candidates eager to work for you and your most qualified employees likely to stay with you. When your competitors appear with tempting incentives, these candidates and employees will decline, because you are fulfilling their needs. These needs can vary from…

Federal law does not require employers to provide paid time off (PTO) to commissioned employees. Therefore, unless state law says differently, it’s up to employers to establish their own vacation and PTO rules — including the rate of pay — for commission-only employees. Determine Your Calculation Method When calculating the vacation/PTO rate of pay for…

On March 25, 2019, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced that states may allow grandmothered health plans to continue until Dec. 31, 2020. What’s the history here? Certain health plans that were already in existence when the Affordable Care Act was passed on March 23, 2010, are permitted to stay in force…

Introduced in 2017 via the 21st Century Cures Act, the QSEHRA is an employer-funded health benefit that enables tax-free reimbursements. Only small employers with fewer than 50 full-time employees and who do not otherwise provide a group health plan can offer a QSEHRA. In a nutshell, the employer provides a monthly allowance, which signifies the…

If your remote employees live in the state where your business is located, you must follow federal employment laws plus your state’s employment rules. But if your remote employees live in a different state from where you conduct business, you must comply with federal employment laws plus the labor laws for each state in which…

According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, “68.9% of the estimated 22.4 million illicit drug users, ages 18 or older, are employed full or part time.” The chances of an employee having a substance abuse problem are higher in certain industries, such as food service, construction and retail. However, substance abuse is…

Although many employees take advantage of their employer’s 401(k) plan offerings, some do not. In a 2017 report, Pew Research cited the following reasons for lack of participation: more pressing financial needs, problems with eligibility, or saving for children’s tuition or the down payment on a home. While you might not be able to remove…

On March 7, the Department of Labor released a proposed rule that would raise the so-called salary-level threshold for white-collar exemptions to $35,308 per year from $23,660. This means that the vast majority of employees earning under the threshold would need to be paid overtime. About 1 million workers may find themselves affected by this:…

A lookback period is the length of time that the IRS uses to measure the amount of taxes paid by an employer. The lookback period also helps the employer determine its deposit schedule. Payroll Taxes, Filings and Lookback Periods Employers must withhold federal income tax, Social Security tax and Medicare tax from employees’ wages, plus…

We live in a fast-paced society where people are forever on the go. There’s hardly ample time for work-life balance, let alone continuing education. Yet studies show that employees want opportunities for learning and development. According to a Gallup survey, 87 percent of millennials say professional development is important in a job. Further, the Harvard…