HCM Blog

A growth hacker’s guide to effective, compliant workforce management

Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012

President Barack Obama signed the payroll tax cut extension into law on February 22, 2012. The “Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012,” extends the two percent payroll tax reduction until December 31, 2012 and guarantees up to 99 weeks of unemployment...

IRS Severance Pay Provisions in Employment Agreements

Many employment agreements provide severance pay upon a change in control or a termination without cause if the employee signs a release of claims. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has noted that these types of agreements may cause problems under Section 409A of the...

IRS Mileage Rate Expiration for 2012

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) optional standard mileage rate of 55.5 cents/mile for business miles expires on December 31, 2012

Bush Tax Cuts Expire

With the re-election of President Barack Obama, Congress will need to determine whether to extend the federal income tax cuts launched by former President George W. Bush, under the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 (EGTRRA). The Bush Tax cuts...

HIPAA Privacy & Security Audit Program

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), in Section 13411 of the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH), requires the U.S. Health and Human Services (HHS) to provide for periodic audits to ensure covered entities...

Continue using Form I-9

Until further notice, employers should continue using the Form I-9 currently available in the HR Support Center (even though the OMB control number expiration date of August 31, 2012 has passed). The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will...

“At-Will” Statement vs. National Labor Relations Act

In the news recently, there has been mention of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) and the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). The NLRA is a federal act, otherwise known as the Wagner Act.   The NLRA was enacted in 1935 “to diminish the causes of labor...

Senate Vote to Extend Immigration Programs

The Senate approved a bill (S. 3245) that would extend four key immigration programs that are set to expire on September 30, 2012 with a new expiration date of September 30, 2015. The bill authorizes a three-year extension for the E-Verify program, the EB-5 Regional...

EEO-1 Report Filing Deadline

By September 30, 2012, private employers with more than 100 employees and federal contractors (with 50 or more employees and a contract of at least $50,000) are required to file an EEO-1 Report with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). The EEO-1 Report...

Annual Benefit Limits Waiver Deadline

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued guidance for health care plans seeking to renew waivers on annual benefits. For plan years starting between September 23, 2010 and September 22, 2011, plans could not limit annual coverage of essential...

Summary of Benefits Coverage Requirement

Starting September 23, 2012, insurance companies must provide a Summary of Benefits Coverage (SBC) form to individual policy holders and to their insured employer plans. Employer plans (self-funded and insured) must provide a SBC for open enrollment periods on or...

Expiration Date of Current Form I-9

On August 13, 2012, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) released a bulletin regarding the expiration date of Form I-9. The bulletin stated: “Until further notice, employers should continue using the Form I-9 currently available. This form should...

Form I-9 to Expire Aug. 31, 2012

The current Employment Eligibility Verification Form, commonly referred to as Form I-9, expires Aug. 31, 2012. Once it expires, what should employers do?All U.S. employers must complete and retain a Form I-9 for all citizens and noncitizens they hire for employment in...

The NLRB’s Social Media Policy Memorandum

On May 30, 2012, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) Acting General Counsel Lafe Solomon issued a memorandum regarding social media policies in the workplace. The General Counsel's memorandum is applicable to both unionized and non-unionized work...

Form 5500 Record Keeping Requirements

Under the Department of Labor's (DOL) electronic filing regulations, plan administrators are required to keep a paper copy of the filed Form 5500 report, including schedules and attachments, in the plan's records. The DOL stated a paper copy of the electronic filing...

New Deportation Rule

On June 15, 2012, President Obama announced an Executive Order that allows some undocumented youths to avoid deportation and receive work permits to remain in the United States (U.S.). Students in the U.S. who are in deportation proceedings or those who would have...

Employment Nondiscrimination Act

On June 12, 2012 the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) held a hearing to discuss the merits of the bipartisan Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA). ENDA would create comprehensive employment based anti-discrimination protections for...

Proposed Federal Minimum Wage Increase

On June 6, 2012, Republican Jesse Jackson introduced the Catching Up to 1968 Act of 2012, a bill to raise the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) minimum wage from $7.25 per hour to $10.00 per hour (beginning 60 days after enactment). The Bill also proposes that...

Supreme Court Upholds Individual Health Insurance Mandate

The U.S. Supreme Court announced its much-anticipated decision on the Obama administration’s health care reform law on June 28, 2012, ruling 5-4 that the controversial individual mandate, which requires virtually all Americans to buy health insurance, is...

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