Survey Says: 10 Things to Ask Yourself Before Conducting an Employee Survey
In the face of worker shortages, many employers are now painfully aware of the benefits of having a happy and engaged workforce, namely retaining existing employees and recruiting new ones. One method many companies select for trying to measure employee engagement and satisfaction levels is an employee survey. As… Read More
What Should I Do With That Returned W-2?
Tis’ the season for employers to be in the year-end scramble working diligently to finalize budgets, prepare their own company tax documentation and produce and send a slew of individual tax forms to employees. The W-2 is the first such form (along with 1099s), which must be mailed to employees… Read More
Workers’ Compensation: Why Pay-As-You-Go May Be Your Way to Go
Calculating premiums for traditional workers’ compensation policies is a complex and confusing process. It generally involves using a specified rate for each job classification that takes into account risks for the types of tasks typically performed by that type of employee. Some states rely on data and job classifications set… Read More
Staff-Level Requirements Aren’t Just for Healthcare: Are You in Compliance?
With the defeat of Question 1 on the ballot in Massachusetts last week, many assume any issues of staffing ratios are a moot point unless they live in California, which is the only state with mandated staffing quotas for nursing staff. Although many acute care facilities are still concerned about… Read More
2019 Payroll Tax Updates: Social Security Wage Base, Medicare & FICA Tax Rates
On October 11, 2018, the Social Security Administration made its annual announcement regarding adjustments to the Social Security wage base (tax cap on maximum earnings) used in calculating the Social Security portion of payroll taxes. For 2019, the base will increase to $132,900. That is an increase of $4,500 from… Read More
Open Enrollment is Just Around the Corner: Make it Not So Scary
Is it any coincidence that one of the scariest times in HR occurs around Halloween? For months, the dread of Open Enrollment often haunts Benefits Administrators and HR Professionals who struggle to keep their heads above water during this turbulent time. Many report a sense of helplessness being at the… Read More
Payroll Cards Pay Off for Employers and Employees
Serving the needs of unbanked and underbanked employees One challenge often faced by both employers and employees is providing reasonable pay options for those workers who are either unbanked or underbanked and thus cannot benefit from direct deposits. Current estimates indicate that roughly 26.9% of the current US population (approximately… Read More
11 Bad Bosses That Are Bad News for Employee Retention
Do you have an employee retention problem? Notice a spike in staff exits in a particular department? Anticipating a coup at some point? You may very well have one of these bad bosses on your payroll and need to address the matter sooner rather than later in order to… Read More
Quits are on the Rise: Do You Have a Revolving Door of Talent?
In May, the US Economy added 223,000 jobs and national unemployment reached a low of 3.8% (an 18-year low). There were 6.6 million job openings with the number of quits at 3.6 million (a rate of 2.4%). When the economy and job market were weak during the recession, workers were… Read More
Vermont Labor Law Poster Update
A newly enacted law in Vermont provides certain workplace protections for victims of crimes. The Vermont Human Rights Commission published the Vermont Protections for Victims of Crime notice, which adds language to include crime victims under the list of protected classes for Vermont’s Fair Employment Practices Act and thus protects… Read More