Tag: Compensation

Survey: Majority of Employers Support Minimum Wage Hike

Momentum is building behind raising the minimum wage, coming at a time when workers at all pay levels are struggling with keeping their heads above water. According to a new CareerBuilder survey, 64% of employers believe the minimum wage should be increased in their state, up from 62% last year.

Finding Market Data for Tough-To-Find Jobs

By Sharon McKnight, CCP, SPHR Trying to find market data for some jobs may seem a little like searching for a needle in a haystack—tedious, time-consuming, and marginally successful. Often, the problem isn’t that no data is available but how we look for it.

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 […]

Bonus Compensation: A Matter of Discretion

By Angelo D. Catalano, Coughlin & Gerhart, LLP Incentive or bonus-based compensation can create many thorny issues. While some year-end bonuses resemble gifts from the boss, especially if they’re paid around holiday time, other bonuses are intended to be incentives tied to performance by a group or an individual.

Ask the Expert: What Are the Rules for Work Travel?

I have a company that does lighting designs for events that require employees to travel from their homes to various locations. Sometimes travel is required out of state. Typically the travel time is one to two hours. Sometimes employees meet at the warehouse and ride in the company van. Do we pay for the time […]

Recognition Matters

By Sharon McKnight, CCP, SPHR Recognition programs award employees for past behavior rather than drive future behavior and, as a general rule, have no predetermined goals or performance levels that employees are required to achieve. Also, they’re usually budgeted at the organizational level instead of being budgeted by individual departments and focus more on recognizing […]