2019

Here at year-end, company personnel responsible for record-keeping should prepare for W-2 and other tax form reporting by collecting their corporate health insurance information. S-Corporations (S-Corps) must segregate payments made to employees, and their spouses and dependents (which are not wages and are therefore not subject to withholding), from payments made on behalf of officers, owners or employees who own more than 2% of the company’s stock. For the latter individuals, the amount paid on…

Flu season is getting started here in the South, and now is a great time to get your office and your workers ready to battle it. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), every flu season sickens millions of Americans, hospitalizes hundreds of thousands, and kills tens of thousands. The 2017-2018 flu season was the most severe in a decade. While only moderate in severity, the 2018-2019 season was record-breaking in duration, with flu…

After years of debate, the Department of Labor (DOL) issued a final rule on September 24 that increased the salary threshold for an “exempt” employee under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) to $684 a week ($35,568 annually) from $455 a week effective January 1, 2020. As a reminder, unless exempt, employees covered by the FLSA must receive at least time and one-half their regular pay rate for all hours worked over 40 in a…

Prudent business leaders recognize the importance of requiring “fitness for duty” certifications as part of the hiring process, especially where a worker may need to perform lifting, bending, stair climbing and other physical duties. Many organizations also request fitness for duty certifications for a change in work status, and this is legal provided that the requirement is consistent across all workers. When workers (as well as job candidates) are pregnant, however, HR professionals face special challenges….