New and Newsworthy
New Supreme Court Rulings on Immigration and Discrimination Summon Attention
Employers that hire foreign workers may have a hard time filling certain job slots soon, if recent action by the Trump Administration survives legal scrutiny. The affected foreign workers are those who have been able to come to the United States using several categories of work visas. In late June, President Trump signed an executive order suspending applications for: H-1B visas for professionals, H-2G for temporary, non-agricultural employees, [...]
Take Special Care with Uncashed Paychecks
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 the check now and you would like to just void it in your [...]
Look for Valuable Skills in Applicants
Increasingly, the most valuable asset of a job applicant isn't a specialized knowledge of one particular field (for example, architecture or engineering). The most valuable assets of a job applicant often are skills increasingly common to all job positions. They include: Computer literacy. Look for the individual who can analyze and interpret computer information, who can assist the organization in making the best use of this technology. Ability [...]
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 [...]
How to Avoid Penalties on Early Retirement Account Withdrawals
Economic fallout from the COVID-19 crisis may cause some cash-strapped individuals to default on loans they've taken out from company qualified retirement plans, including 401(k) and profit-sharing plans. Defaulting on a plan loan will cause adverse tax and retirement-saving consequences. Here are the details. Retirement Plan Loan Basics A participant in an employer-sponsored qualified retirement plan can borrow money from the plan if it allows loans. Under the [...]
The Ins and Outs of Garnishing
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 debtor. Courts typically order garnishments on, among other debts, child support, unpaid taxes, and [...]