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Starting 2012, savers can sock away $17,000 per year in a 401(k) retirement plan without paying upfront taxes, up from $16,500 in 2010. This increase applies to all 401(k) and 403(b) plans, most 457 plans and the federal government’s Thrift Savings Plan. The last time the IRS raised this elective deferral (contribution) limit was in […]
The number of Fair Labor Standards Act civil lawsuits filed in 2011 declined 7.2 percent, according to a recent report by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts. In all, 6,335 FLSA cases were commenced in district courts nationwide during the 12-month period ended Sept. 30, 2011, down from 6,825 during the same period in […]
We’ve worked to get our procedures in line with the OFCCP’s guidelines for Internet Applicants. Now I gather that the OFCCP has issued some new rules? Can you fill me in on what has changed? — Joan, HR Manager in La Jolla
Employees will be able defer a maximum of $10,500 to their401(k) plans next year, rather than the $10,000 cap currently in effect, under newcost-of-living adjustments announced by the IRS that go into effect January 1. Inaddition, the maximum annual benefit that can be funded through a defined benefit planwill rise to $135,000 from $130,000, although […]
The full Senate will soon consider a bill that would raise contribution limits for individual retirement accounts and 401(k) plans. The maximum annual contribution for 401(k) plans would increase from $10,500 to $15,000. IRA limits would rise from $2,000 per year to $5,000, and “catch-up” provisions would allow workers aged 50 and older to put […]
The Colorado Court of Appeals has upheld an employee’s firing for off-duty marijuana use, despite medical and recreational use of the drug being allowed under state law. A quadriplegic employee who used marijuana under the state’s medical marijuana amendment filed a lawsuit after he tested positive for drugs in violation of company policy and was […]
Think your posting area for legally required employee notifications is crowded? Well, it’s about to get a little more so.
You may feel as if you can’t get away from discussions and debates on health care reform. When you turn on the TV, browse the Internet, or listen to the radio, you may be inundated with the latest challenges, fights, and screaming matches over the subject. Although health care reform has become one of the […]
Retail giant Wal-Mart has agreed to pay up to $54.25 million to settle a lawsuit accusing the retailer of violating hours of work and break laws at Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club stores in Minnesota. This settlement follows a judge’s decision last summer finding that Wal-Mart violated a host of wage and hour laws. Approximately 100,000 […]
The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to review a Ninth Circuit ruling upholding a San Francisco ordinance requiring contractors to provide domestic partner benefits. The case involved S.D. Myers Inc., an Ohio company that was denied a city contract because it refused to provide its employees with domestic partner benefits. The company unsuccessfully charged that […]