Author: Margie Reed

Kids are expensive. Whether someone just brought a bundle of joy home from the hospital, adopted a teen from foster care, or is raising their grandchild. There are several tax breaks that can help. Here are some tax tips for new parents Get the child...

Workplace experts are advising businesses to check on the required federal posters they display at their businesses. Some recent regulatory changes have led to poster modifications this year, and HR departments need to review the rules and post the latest notices. According to the Society for...

The three easiest ways to create more structure within your pay scale are: Define pay grades. Order your staff into different levels of pay, or grades, by evaluating their responsibilities, experience and education. Hint: look at your org chart and Job Descriptions for a good...

Following are three examples of FLSA Overtime violations. Penalties can be severe. The Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) is very aggressive about enforcing FLSA Overtime rules. The WHD answers 900,000 calls from employees asking if their rights were violated each year. “Hey Pam,...

Question:  We have an employee claiming they shouldn't be classified as exempt from overtime. If it turns out they're right, what are the penalties for misclassification? Answer:  The cost of misclassification can be steep and will depend on several factors, such as how many employees are misclassified,...

Whether someone is entering the workforce for the first time or changing jobs, filling out new hire paperwork can feel overwhelming. One of the forms employees must complete is a W-4, Employee's Withholding Certificate. This form tells employers how much money to withhold from the...

The interactive process is a term most often associated with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), a federal law that requires organizations with 15 or more employees to provide reasonable accommodations to qualified applicants and employees who have a disability. The interactive process involves working with an...

Employee records are complicated. There. We said it. Forms, copies, folders, signatures: none of it is fun, but there is a right way and a wrong way to do it. While organizations often review employee files at the end of the calendar year, summer is...

Question:  Can we use comp time with our employees? Answer:  It depends. For nonexempt employees of a private employer, no. The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) doesn’t permit private employers to offer compensatory time (“comp time”) in lieu of overtime pay. You could offer time off to your exempt employees as...

Question:  What is the difference between a discretionary bonus and a nondiscretionary bonus? Answer:  A discretionary bonus, as its name implies, is a bonus awarded at the sole discretion of the employer and is awarded without employee expectation. In other words, there’s no promise or agreement...