Tag: wage and hour

Tackling the ADA—‘Affordable’ and ‘Minimum

[Go here for yesterday’s Q&A] How does an employer know whether the coverage it offers is “affordable”? If an employee’s share of the premium for employer-provided coverage would cost the employee more than 9.5% of that employee’s annual household income, the coverage is not considered affordable for that employee. If an employer offers multiple healthcare […]

Market Pricing—Comp Key in 2013

Daniels, Senior Consultant at Keating Advisors, LLC, offered her suggestions at a recent webinar sponsored by BLR and HR Hero. Getting Market Pricing Right Market Pricing is the process of analyzing external salary survey data to establish the worth of jobs as represented by market data, based upon the “scope” of the organization (geography, industry, […]

Wage/Hour Litigation Bringing Down the Bottom Line?

[Go here for yesterday’s survey results] What is the amount of annual litigation expense (by company size) in the US? The trend of increased litigation expenditure has resumed. Last year marked the first drop in the percentage of companies spending $1000000 or more on litigation since 2007. This year, the increase resumed with just over […]

DOL Gets Serious About Federal Contractor Compliance; Slaps Companies with $1M in Back Wages in November

Companies that violate the federal government contractor laws risk not just fines and citations from the U.S. Department of Labor, but also debarment that prevents them from bidding on any other federal contracts for a specified period. For a company that relies predominantly on federal contracts, or that was depending on a financial infusion from […]

Minimum wage going up in 10 states

The 2013 minimum hourly wage is set to go up in 10 states. Arizona. The rate goes from $7.65 to $7.80. The state’s minimum wage is adjusted annually based on a cost-of-living formula. Colorado. The rate is going from $7.64 an hour to $7.78 based on an annual cost-of-living adjustment. Florida. The rate goes from […]

Employment Law Outlook for 2013 and Beyond

Panelists included Susan Webman, Of Counsel with FortneyScott in Washington, DC; John Husband, senior partner with Holland & Hart in the firm’s Denver, Colorado office; Linda Walton, attorney with Perkins Coie LLP in Seattle; and panel moderator Charles Plumb, partner with McAfee & Taft in the firm’s Tulsa, Oklahoma office. Hot Topics: Equal Pay Act […]

Weather, power outages stir up pay issues

The latest reports coming out of the northeast say that there are at least 7 million people without power because of Hurricane Sandy, and that number is expected to grow before it gets better. So when you close your business because of bad weather or power outages, are you required to pay employees? Here are […]

Misclassification mistakes: Know risks and prevention strategies

It’s almost an understatement to call misclassification of employees as independent contractors a hot topic. It’s certainly the subject of a growing list of court cases, government agency investigations, and legislative initiatives. Various agencies at both the state and federal level have been in crackdown mode for a few years now, and it’s no wonder: […]

The 3 Key Criteria for Choosing Your Payroll Auditor

Lambert, who offers payroll training as “The Payroll Advisor,”says that you can’t give payroll auditing over to just anyone who’s free.  There are three points that are critical for choosing the auditor.  1. Not the Person Who Does the Job First, says Lambert, you want someone other than the one who does the job to […]

Internal Fraud—How to Audit for Common Crimes

Lambert, who offers payroll training as “The Payroll Advisor,” says that if you are doing an audit, might as well audit for fraud as you go. She’s found a lot of fraudulent behavior that way. Auditing for Fraud Payroll fraud is defined as “anything that uses payroll to take money from the company in a […]