New and Newsworthy
Is Overtime Doing More Harm Than Good at Your Company?
For a variety of reasons, many employees regularly supplement their base salaries with overtime pay. Some companies encourage the practice because managers believe it keeps the workflow on track during the busiest times. This may seem like a win-win situation, but there can be some hidden costs involved with working too much overtime. The biggest danger is that overtime will go from being a temporary solution to standard [...]
Claiming the New Employer Tax Credit for Family and Medical Leave
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) establishes a new federal income tax credit for employers that provide qualifying paid family and medical leave benefits to their employees. This credit is only available for two employer tax years — those beginning between January 1, 2018 and December 31, 2019 — unless Congress extends the deal. Here are some FAQs about this tax break. How Much Is the Credit? [...]
Create an Accountable Plan to Reimburse Employees for Business Expenses
Did you know that the TaxCuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) eliminated itemized deductions for employees who incur unreimbursed expenses for company business for 2018 through 2025? Fortunately, you can set up a so-called "accountable plan" to minimize the adverse effects of this TCJA provision. Here's how the accountable plan deal works. Playing by a New Set of Rules Before the TCJA, an employee could claim an itemized deduction [...]
Handling Sensitive Employee Data
Identity theft is a growing crime in this country and the liability risk of employers is increasing along with it. The reason is all the sensitive personal information collected from employees, job applicants, customers, independent contractors, business partners, patients and others. The Federal Trade Commission reports that every year, millions of Americans fall victim to identity theft. And according to some studies, improperly handled employee records were the [...]
Good Employees Start with Excellent Applications
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 application form: Understandable Directions Give applicants clear instructions for completing the form, at [...]
Replacing Employees Costs Big Dollars
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. Using this figure, calculate what this could mean for a business with 100 [...]
