CareerBuilder has released the results from an online poll conducted by Harris Interactive on behalf of CareerBuilder. The survey addresses the use of temporary and contract workers anticipated for this year. 40% of companies plan to bring in temporary and contract workers. That’s up 36% from the survey for 2012. Over 40% of businesses plan to transition at least some temporary employees into full-time over. The trend for hiring is also increasing with 26% of companies anticipating increasing hiring in 2013, up 3% from 2012. 19% of employees said they have been approached to work for another company in the last 12 months, even though they didn’t apply for a job at that company. This goes up to 33% for sales rep positions. Professional and business service employees had a 31% rate of being contacted by outside companies. Business owners are planning on being more aggressive with 72% of them planning on paying existing employees more this year, up from 62% in 2012. This enthusiasm from leadersh ...

According to a recent report released by Certify, travel expenses increases less than two percent year over year, including a decline from summer on through the end of the year. Certify is a cloud-based expense management service that handled over 6 million transactions on 2012.  The reports mentions February and March as the two months with the highest average expense reports, tipping $943. According to Aberdeen Group, travel and entertainment account for 8-12% of a company’s budget. In the press release, Robert Neveu, CEO at Certify says, “We’re seeing more expense report transactions per company than at any time in the past three years, with the general trend of more carefully managed employee spend per transaction.” The restaurants most frequently mentioned in expense reports are Starbucks, McDonalds and Subway, with expense levels of $7.54, $6.73 and $11.88, respectively. Panera and Burger King round out the top five. Regarding airlines, Delta dominates the expense repor ...

Market Pricing Study to project your brand correctly. Getting an updated external market pricing study is a quick way to see if your salary pay grades are still competitive and if they represent the company brand the way you’d like it represented. Your pay grades should be adjusted depending on your brand. Are you the company that: “Doesn’t pay well, but has great benefits.” “Pays top dollar” “Has average pay, but is a really great place to work. They care about employees.” Studies help you retain and grow talent within the organization. Help your managers retain your best talent by allowing them to use competitive pay grades with their employees to keep them in-house and focused on work, rather than looking for new jobs elsewhere. Do and internal audit In internal pay level audit helps to let you know if employees are being paid appropriately to help them focus on their work, rather than how their pay compares to their co-worker. Are s ...

Florida’s Office of Insurance Regulation recently reacted to a report from the Oregon Department of Consumer & Business Services that showed Florida jumped 11 spots (from 40th to 29th) when it comes to the most expensive states for workers’ comp rates. Insurance Commissioner Kevin M. McCarty said, "Our office is committed to working with the Florida Legislature to address these cost drivers. Keeping workers' compensation rates affordable is critical for the financial health of Florida's businesses, continued job growth, and Florida's overall economy." Even though the nation’s median rate was $1.88 per $100 worth of payroll, Florida’s median rate was less at $1.82. In addition, this rate is below Florida’s rates before the implementation of legislative reforms back in 2003. McCarty also stated the study from the Oregon Department of Consumer & Business Services "further validates that cost drivers in the system are contributing to rate increases, a pattern that has ...

The American Taxpayer Relief Act signed into law this year allows holders of traditional 401(k) accounts to transfer funds into a Roth 401(k) account. While taxes will have to be paid on the funds before they move into the Roth 401(k), after the move they grow and are eventually withdrawn in retirement tax-free. This is particularly helpful for people that anticipate being in a higher tax bracket during their retirement years. Traditional 401(k) accounts are funded by pre-tax dollars. The funds are taxes upon being withdrawn in retirement years. This can be a heavy tax impact for people that wind up in a higher tax bracket during those retirement years. Traditionally, money couldn’t move from a 401(k) to a Roth 401(k). Roth 401(k) accounts differ from traditional Roth Retirement accounts in that the annual maximum contribution limit to the Roth 401(k) account is three times higher than a normal Roth account. Currently, about 40% of businesses offer a Roth 401(k) account to employees. Modern Busines ...