Employers covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act are required to pay nonexempt employees for all hours worked. It sounds simple enough, but many people fail to understand all the forms an hour of work can take. Not understanding the nuances of this principle can lead to payroll mistakes. Below are some pitfalls to avoid. Improperly interpreting hours worked According to the Department of … [Read more...]

Are you sure you know whether your employees are considered exempt or nonexempt? It's important to classify workers correctly because their status determines their eligibility to receive overtime pay. Even if you think you know the difference between exempt and nonexempt status, there are some fine points of which you may be unaware. The Fair Labor Standards Act generally requires overtime pay … [Read more...]

Don't use guesswork when figuring out how much to pay your employees. You need a comprehensive, long-term plan to figure out a talent strategy. Here's a checklist to get started on creating a strategy: List the job responsibilities, duties, required skills and experience of every role to determine the value each job brings to your firm. Look up what salaries your competitors pay for … [Read more...]

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act protects Americans with health-related conditions from exclusions, limitations and discrimination in group health coverage. It also imposes confidentiality rules on medical professionals regarding patients' records. Indeed, cyber thieves see data as a commodity, and patients' digital medical records are 50 times more valuable than financial … [Read more...]

The Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) Act is landmark legislation that largely took effect on Jan. 1, 2020. In a nutshell, the SECURE Act makes it easier for Americans to save for retirement. Among the Act’s many provisions are pooled employer plans, or PEPs, which were legalized Jan. 1, 2021. What are PEPs? Pooled employer plans are a new form of multiple … [Read more...]

Donning and doffing is the practice of employees changing into (donning) and out of (doffing) work attire such as uniforms, protective gear or equipment. Employees who may have to don and doff during a shift include: Police officers. Nurses. Firefighters. Security guards. Welders. Drilling workers. Construction workers. Food service workers. Hospitality workers. … [Read more...]

You can allow an employee to work two different jobs for your company. However, under the FLSA, you cannot classify an employee as both exempt and nonexempt — it must be one or the other. To know which one to use, you must first combine all of the employee's job duties into one. Considering the employee's two jobs as one, ask yourself: What is his or her primary duty? If the primary duty being … [Read more...]

Qualified retirement plans — including 401(k) plans — are required to comply with specific rules, which are enforced by the Internal Revenue Service. These rules include guidance on: Developing and maintaining a written, up-to-date plan document. Operating the plan according to the terms established in the plan document. Following applicable federal tax laws when operating the … [Read more...]

A 2019 report by the Work Institute found that 43% of new hires quit within 90 days of employment, often for reasons that could have been prevented by the employer. When the organization surveyed 37,000 people who had left their jobs in the previous year, they found that: 22% left for career development. 12% left for work-life balance. 11% left because of manager behavior. 9% left … [Read more...]

Robotic process automation "is the term used for software tools that partially or fully automate human activities that are manual, rule-based and repetitive," according to the Association for Intelligent Information Management (AIIM). These automated tools are essentially "robots" that use software to perform routine business tasks by replicating the way humans interact. In human resources, RPA … [Read more...]