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.

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.

5 Nontraditional Benefits that Attract, Retain Millennial Talent

“Millennials are becoming the largest demographic in the U.S. Workforce—about one third of all workers—so it’s critical for employers to understand how to attract and retain Millennial talent,” said John Burke, senior vice president and chief culture officer, Staples, Inc. “Our Workplace Index found that contrary to popular belief, salary is important to Millennials, just […]

ESOP May Be Short Answer to Complex Questions

Question: How can an employer engage employees in the company’s success, give themselves a competitive position in the battle for new and existing employees, and at the same time, facilitate the sale of the company to a group of trusted, motivated people?

Obama Signs Bill Eliminating ACA’s Auto-enrollment Requirement

Large employers with 200 and more employees will not have to automatically enroll their workforces into health plans, under budget legislation signed by President Obama. This Affordable Care Act provision was repealed because it was a low government priority and because business objected to it. Rules explaining the provision were never issued and it never took […]