As the Fed continues to do battle with inflation, and with fears of a recession not quite going away, companies have been keeping a close eye on the costs of their health insurance and pharmacy coverage. If you’re facing higher costs for health care benefits this year, it probably doesn’t come as a big surprise. …
Cost containment: An important health care benefits objective for businesses Read More »
The SECURE 2.0 law, which was enacted last year, contains wide-ranging changes to retirement plans. One provision in the law is that eligible employers will soon be able to provide more help to staff members facing emergencies. This will be done through what the law calls “pension-linked emergency savings accounts.” Effective for plan years beginning …
Planning ahead for 2024: Should your 401(k) help employees with emergencies? Read More »
With the pandemic behind us and a red-hot summer in full swing, many of your company’s employees may be finally rediscovering the uninhibited joys of vacation. Your workers might be having so much fun, in fact, that they might highly value being able to buy even more paid time off (PTO) as an employee benefit. …
Should your business add a PTO buying feature to its cafeteria plan? Read More »
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) recently announced that a jury in a landmark case, Walsh v. East Penn Manufacturing Co, Inc., DC-PA, has awarded more than $22 million in back wages to about 7,500 employees of a battery manufacturer. The award marks the largest recorded verdict ever under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). …
Jury awards more than $22 million in back pay to manufacturing employees Read More »
Summertime can mean hiring time for many types of businesses. With legions of working-age kids and college students out of school, and some spouses of business owners looking for part-time or seasonal work, companies may have a much deeper hiring pool to dive into this time of year. If you’re considering hiring your children or …
Hiring family members can offer tax advantages (but be careful) Read More »
Many businesses use independent contractors to help keep their costs down — especially in these times of staff shortages and inflationary pressures. If you’re among them, be careful that these workers are properly classified for federal tax purposes. If the IRS reclassifies them as employees, it can be an expensive mistake. The question of whether …
If you’re hiring independent contractors, make sure they’re properly handled Read More »
If you’re the owner of an incorporated business, you know there’s a tax advantage to taking money out of a C corporation as compensation rather than as dividends. The reason: A corporation can deduct the salaries and bonuses that it pays executives, but not dividend payments. Therefore, if funds are paid as dividends, they’re taxed …
4 ways corporate business owners can help ensure their compensation is “reasonable” Read More »
If you’re thinking about setting up a retirement plan for yourself and your employees, but you’re worried about the financial commitment and administrative burdens involved, there are a couple of options to consider. Let’s take a look at a “simplified employee pension” (SEP) or a “savings incentive match plan for employees” (SIMPLE). SEPs are intended …
Retirement saving options for your small business: Keep it simple Read More »
If you were told someone earns more than $200,000 annually, you might assume the person is a salaried employee who’s ineligible for overtime pay. However, as demonstrated in the recent U.S. Supreme Court case of Helix Energy Solutions Group, Inc. v. Hewitt, this isn’t always a safe assumption. The FLSA rules. Under the Fair Labor …
Supreme Court: Overtime rules still apply to highly compensated employees Read More »
Many businesses in certain industries employ individuals who receive tips as part of their compensation. These businesses include restaurants, hotels and salons. Tip definition. Tips are optional payments that customers make to employees who perform services. They can be cash or noncash. Cash tips include those received directly from customers, electronically paid tips distributed to …
Have employees who receive tips? Here are the tax implications Read More »
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