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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.
In a decision that overlooked key COBRA guidance, a federal district court ruled that an employer/plan administrator fulfilled its notice obligation by verbally providing a notice of COBRA rights and accepting premium payments — which apparently the qualified beneficiary had to pay a few days after her employment termination. In dismissing a COBRA notice claim, […]
Fidelity Investments agreed to pay a class of its own employee 401(k) plan participants and beneficiaries $12 million to settle ERISA violation allegations of excessive fees and committing prohibited transactions with their retirement accounts. The settlement, filed July 3 with the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, ended two lawsuits brought by employees: […]
Dear Readers, The article’s authors—Amy Wrzesniewski, a professor of organizational behavior, and Barry Schwartz, a professor of psychology—had conducted a study about motivation. According to them, there are two types of motivation: internal and instrumental. Internal motivation, as you would guess, comes from within. People are motivated to do something based on the feeling of […]
Employer preparation for preparing for health care reform’s pay-or-play provisions, especially data reporting (under Sections 6055 and 6056) to the IRS, can be complicated by: (1) changes in workers’ employment status (from part-time to full-time); (2) an organization’s switching from one measurement method to another; and (3) the structure of controlled groups and subsidiaries, speakers […]
[Go here for the first part of the discussion on pregnancy discrimination] Requiring Leave May an employer require a pregnant employee who is able to perform her job to take leave at any point in her pregnancy or after childbirth? No. An employer may not force an employee to take leave because she is or […]
On July 14 the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) issued enforcement guidance on pregnancy discrimination accompanied by an extensive and practical Q&A. The new guidance, the first to address pregnancy discrimination since 1983, focuses on how the 2008 amendments to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) may apply to employees with pregnancy-related disabilities. Is EEOC […]
[Go here for 2014 data and the rest of the survey results] 2015 Merit Increases A mere 13.8% (down from 14.1% in 2013) of survey participants have decided and/or approved their pay budgets for 2015, leaving 86.3% undecided as of the end of June. Of those who have decided, on average across all employee types, […]
Yesterday’s Advisor began our coverage of BLR’s 2014–2015 Pay Budget Survey results. Today, the rest of the results, including 2015 compensation planning. [Go here for 2014 data and the rest of the survey results] 2015 Merit Increases A mere 13.8% (down from 14.1% in 2013) of survey participants have decided and/or approved their pay budgets […]
More needs to be known about managed account services for retirement plan participants and the role employer plan sponsors play in offering them, according to a report released on July 29 by the U.S. Government Accountability Office. Because these services differ from investment options provided within 401(k) plans, yet can serve as a qualified default […]
A federal appeals court not only affirmed a ruling that an employer/plan administrator must pay more than $126,000 in penalties and legal costs for intentionally violating COBRA notice requirements, it also held that about $2,460 in expenses excluded from the legal award should be revisited by the lower court. The case is Evans v. Books-A-Million, […]