Currently, employee and employer contributions to a 401(k) plan are limited to $49,000 or 100 percent of a worker’s pay, whichever is lower. Two proposals that could take effect in 2012 threaten the financial benefits of the 401(k) program and affect how much employees can place into their accounts. Currently the 401(k) system and the IRA rollovers that occur from them are some of the largest sources of retirement financing in the country. One proposal is from 2010 and one is more recent. The first proposal, drafted by the bipartisan National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform (NCFRR), is called the “20/20 cap.” It proposes to limit 401(k) annual contributions to $20,000, or 20% of an employee’s salary, whichever is lower. The second proposal, also drafted by the NCFRR, attempts to remove the tax deduction aspect of a 401(k) plan and replace it with a flat-rate refundable credit that would act as a matching contribution to a retirement savings account, outside of a 401(k ...

Either by mistake, or to avoid paying overtime to employees, many companies incorrectly classify nonexempt works as exempt. The normal rule is to pay nonexempt employees overtime for work in excess of 40 hours per week. So, if you’re going to classify an employee as exempt, take the following into consideration: To avoid penalties, the exempt employee generally has to be paid on a salary basis and receive a minimum salary. That means a preset amount each pay period. And, you can’t reduce the amount because of a change in the quantity or quality of the employees work. In addition, if your employee performs ANY work during a week, they usually must be paid for that entire week. If your exempt employee performs some hourly-paid work, that may break their entire exempt status. If that is the case, you may owe overtime on all work in excess of 40 hours per week. Note also, that if you issue a smart phone to a non-exempt employee and they check email after work hours for more than 15 minutes ...

According to a new study by MassMutual, women are more concerned than men about keeping up with monthly expenses. The study found both men and women are worried about saving enough money for retirement. In addition, more than twice as many women are concerned about monthly expenses over saving enough for retirement down the road. The nationwide survey was conducted with American workers who are eligible to take part in employer-sponsored defined contribution retirement plans. The study was sponsored by MassMutual retirement Services and done by Brightwork Partners. According to data from the survey, 31 percent of respondents think the United States will remain in a recession for the next 12 months. In addition, 38 percent are “somewhat” or “very concerned” about losing their jobs. The largest financial worry is “just keeping up with monthly expenses” (at 21 percent), followed by “saving enough for retirement” (at 18 percent). Here are some additional inter ...

According to a recent survey by Robert Half, human resources executives are more optimistic than any other group of professionals about extra pay. The survey polled the bonus expectations of workers in the fields of accounting, technology, law and advertising. In the past few years, thousands of employees have received the ever-so-dreaded news that they no longer have a job. It seems many HR workers who step in to help in those situations are actually expecting bigger bonuses this year. According to global staffing firm Robert Half International, 42 percent of human resources executives believe bonuses for people in the HR field will increase. As far as the rest of the numbers go, 10 percent of respondents think bonuses will decrease and 43 percent predict they will hold steady for the remainder of the year. Data from the survey shows HR executives are more optimistic than any other group of workers. Robert Half International found that 30 percent of those surveyed expect higher bonuses this year. Work ...

A former press box hostess for the Indianapolis Colts is accusing the National Football League (NFL) of underpaying her and “a dozen or more” of her co-workers. According to the class-action lawsuit that was filed last month in federal district court in Indianapolis, hours worked were not documented. Per the court documents, Colleen Fenstermaker is seeking class-action status that would include other unnamed hostesses, in part because “some, if not most, of the individual group members may not be aware of their rights to wages under federal and Indiana law, or may not, because of financial means or experience, be in a position to seek the assistance of counsel to commence individual litigation.” According to her complaint, Fenstermaker said she worked part-time in the team’s press box as a “hostess” of the team’s statistics crew from 1998 until Sept. 9, 2011 (when she was allegedly fired just two days before the beginning of the regular NFL season). In the ...