How much money is lost when you leave a position vacant? There’s a financial impact to keeping a role open. Efficient, productive firms have talent acquisition and retention plans to quickly fill the pipeline with great candidates. Without those processes in place, however, recruiting, screening and acquiring new staff can be costly and time-consuming. The … Read more
It is not uncommon for a new hire to pose the question: Do you get paid for orientation? Orientation formally introduces the new hire to the company — including its mission, culture, values, vision, policies, procedures, and fringe benefits. Training equips the new hire with the knowledge he or she needs to perform the job … Read more
An employee who resigns with two weeks’ notice may think they are doing you a favor. But in fact, it can be a payroll headache, especially if you listen to some of the misinformation you may have heard about two-week notices. For example, you may have heard a rumor that you don’t need to pay … Read more
Even if your business has only a few employees, you may be considering outsourcing your payroll processing to a specialist. What can a payroll processing service do for you? It can help keep you compliant. You may have employees in more than one state and need to comply with reporting, withholding, and paying state and … Read more
Employer-based health insurance costs have increased modestly since 2012 — between 3% and 5% annually for family coverage, according to a 2020 report by Kaiser Family Foundation. These changes have added up over the past decade, and employers and employees are now paying 155% of the health care costs they were paying before, even as … Read more
The Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA) mandates that employers have to withhold, and also match, certain taxes. FICA consists of Social Security (formally known as the Old-Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance, or OASDI) and the Medicare taxes. The current tax rate for the Social Security tax is 6.2% for the employer and 6.2% for the … Read more
In a 7-2 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld, again, the Affordable Care Act. Texas and other states had sued to overturn it. The court’s opinion, written by Justice Stephen Breyer, said that plaintiffs had argued that without the noncompliance penalty, which had been stripped from the act, the entire law was unconstitutional. But Breyer … Read more
A tax credit for small-employer pension plan startup costs may be awaiting you. You may be able to claim a tax credit of up to $5,000 when you set up an SEP or a SIMPLE IRA or a qualified plan such as a 401(k). You qualify to claim this credit if you meet all these … Read more
Everybody wants to pay as little in taxes as possible. Most people use software or hire an accountant to help them find all the deductions they can subtract from their taxable income and all the credits they can subtract from their final bill. But most tax breaks require you, the taxpayer, to plan ahead. Even … Read more
A money purchase pension plan is an employee retirement benefit plan that requires companies to contribute a specific percentage of an employee’s salary each year, regardless of the firm’s profitability. Because of this, money purchase plans can be attractive options for employers to attract and retain key employees, though they can be pricey for firms … Read more
