Check your employment application form for key elements: items and questions you really need to have in your form, and items and questions you really need to delete. This is important because missing elements -- or wrong elements -- can lead you to hire the wrong people. The following are key elements in a job [...]
The cost of employee turnover is alarming for many businesses. The latest statistic available from the Employment Policy Foundation suggests the average cost of turnover to employers is $13,355 per full-time private-sector employee replaced. Keep in mind, this study was done several years ago so chances are this figure has risen considerably. Still it is enough to be troubling. [...]
The IRS recently issued proposed reliance regulations to help clarify the new qualified business income (QBI) deduction that was introduced as part of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. This guidance is complex and hundreds of pages long. As part of the proposed regs, the IRS explained that, if certain requirements are met, individuals, estates [...]
The Scenario: Your company issues a final paycheck to an employee who is moving out of town and leaves only a forwarding address. A year later, the check still hasn't been cashed despite several letters your company has sent offering to void the original and reissue the check. You know that your bank won't cash [...]
Garnishing an employee's wages can be inconvenient, but there is little you can do about it. When one of your employees fails to pay a debt or owes the government money, a court may issue an order to withhold income, which means your company takes money from the employee's paycheck and forwards it to the [...]
One of the biggest changes under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) is the permanent installation of a flat 21% federal income tax rate for C corporations for tax years beginning after 2017. The new 21% rate applies equally to personal service corporations (PSCs). (Under prior law, PSCs were taxed more heavily than other [...]
Association health plans (AHPs) are health benefit policies made available to small employers through a group purchasing arrangement for the benefit of association members and their employees. Under the old rules, AHP availability was limited to tightly linked employers (such as parent-child companies). Under new regulations issued by the Department of Labor on June 19, [...]
Change is part of life. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) has brought sweeping changes to the federal income tax rules for individuals. But how will you and your family be affected? That depends on your specific circumstances. Major life changes — from marriage and birth to divorce and death — can provide opportunities [...]
Let's say an employee comes into your company's payroll office complaining that she just received a letter from the IRS. Her tax refund has been held up due to a discrepancy with her Social Security number (SSN). Another employee then complains that his tax return was kicked back to him because the IRS says the [...]
Thousands of cases are appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court every year, but usually fewer than 100 get a full-blown hearing and ruling. One case that made it through in the current court term is Encino Motorcars v. Navarro. On the surface, this case looks at whether car dealer service advisors are exempt or nonexempt. [...]
