Although not much different from recent years, the situation was less than
ideal. Employees were lured away with promises of more pay or better benefits.
The recruitment machine chugged along at full capacity. There was constant training
for new hires.
If you are considering offering domestic partnership benefits, what are the
legal requirements? How does the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) treat benefits
to a domestic partner and what requirements does the employer have to meet?
Is income subject to withholding for federal FICA (Federal Insurance Contributions
Act) and FUTA (Federal Unemployment Tax Act)? What about health insurance and
the Consolidated Omnibus Budget and Reconciliation Act (COBRA)?
This is the second of a two-part series by guest writer Christopher A. Kramer,
CFA, ASA, on Employee Stock Ownership Plans and their possible benefits for
companies that implement them.
One of the key attributes of employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs) that make them attractive to many companies
is the ability to structure the plans to meet the specific goals and objectives of the parties involved. The flexibility inherent in ESOPs enables them to be used in a variety of ways.
Many employers would like to convert their traditional defined benefit plans
to a new kind of defined benefit plan, the cash balance plan (CBP) to meet the
needs of today's mobile workforce. However, employers have been discouraged from making cash balance "conversions" because of the uncertainty about their legality. A recent district court decision should encourage them.
Increasingly, U.S. businesses are extending domestic partner (DP) health insurance
benefits to gay and lesbian workers, according to a recent analysis by the Human
Rights Campaign Foundation (HRC). Certain state
legislative initiatives, however, may hamper employers' ability to offer
benefits to the same-sex partners of
their employees.
Steve Neeleman, CEO of HealthEquity, believes America is addicted. As a practicing trauma surgeon and assistant professor of surgery at the University of Arizona, he is certainly qualified to recognize substance abuse, but he?s not referring to drugs. "People are addicted to co-pays," he says.
With the turnaround of the economy,
more jobs open up. If employees feel mistreated, employers may find themselves
facing mass defections at the time they most need their employees in order to
stay competitive.
When employees of consumer products giant Procter & Gamble were called into unit meetings 1 day last spring, they knew a big announcement
was coming. Some may have felt concern, but given the company’s stellar
performance during the 4-year tenure of chairman and CEO A.G. Lafley, most likely
anticipated a pat on the back. And what a pat it was.
When M. Sami Khawaja decided
to use his new company to save
the world, he didn?t picture doing
it through an employee benefits package. In fact, starting out in 1998 with
two other half-time employees, even a paycheck seemed a long
way off.
