Under the Affordable Care Act, whether an employer is required to provide health insurance depends on the number of full-time employees and full-time equivalents. That means your payroll tracking reports are now closely tied to your company's health coverage. Health insurance terms can be confusing — especially now that the ACA has brought a whole [...]
HR&P Recognized for the 6th consecutive year to the Cougar 100 It is our privilege to announce that Mike Holley, Class of 1990, and HR&P – Human Resources & Payroll, have been recognized for the 6th consecutive year to the Cougar 100. The Cougar 100 celebrates the fastest growing University of Houston Alumni owned or [...]
Unemployment costs your organization money nearly every minute of every day — when you pay unemployment tax based on your payroll expenses, when an employee files a claim against your reserve account and when the Department of Labor shows up at your door for an unannounced audit. If you have employees, you're familiar with the [...]
If you're not familiar with the "ban the box" concept, you might be soon. The box refers to a question on a job application that asks applicants if they have been convicted of a crime. In 14 states, it's now illegal to include that question. If your state is not one of those 14, it [...]
If you have a backlog of projects piling up because there just aren't enough hours in the day, you may consider hiring interns to help you get caught up. This can be a great idea that provides benefits for your company and the students. However, if you want help from interns, don't expect to get [...]
They're commonly called reference checks and involve calling previous employers and asking them about an applicant's employment history. But in the typical reference call, you aren't really looking for a reference (or endorsement) for an applicant. In the typical reference contact with a previous employer or previous supervisor, you are looking for: Factual information about [...]
First Missing Element: Many of these policies distributed to employees address only the topic of sexual harassment and sex discrimination. What's missing is a broader statement that prohibits all forms for illegal harassment and illegal discrimination. Federal and state civil rights and anti-discrimination laws protect employees from many kinds of harassment and discrimination, not just [...]
Because of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), employers and employees may now be expected to have a greater understanding of health care vocabulary. Some terms are new under the ACA, but many have been around for a long time and are still not fully understood. Others are similar in meaning and are easily confused. Here [...]
If you pay over half the cost of supporting a parent, he or she is considered your dependent for federal income tax purposes — which may qualify you to some significant tax breaks. Here are the details. New Credit for a Dependent Parent For 2018 through 2025, your dependent parent may qualify [...]
It may not be long before paper paychecks go the way of the five-and-dime store and the VCR. They may soon become obsolete as "direct deposit" into bank accounts is the predominant method of paying employees. And why not? All of the banking — including depositing the amounts into the employee's account and acceptance of [...]
