Every two years, the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) conducts a survey of its members and asks them to look into the future. The group asks human resource professionals about changes their companies are expected to make that particular year. This year, salaries are expected to go up, but in exchange, workers will be asked to increase productivity and pay more money for health insurance. This year, 1,240 human resource professionals were surveyed. Among those surveyed, there was wide agreement that the factors that will drive workplace trends are as follows: Health Insurance will Impact Employee Pocket Books – As health insurance becomes more and more expensive, it seems companies plan to pass some of those health insurance costs along to employees. Companies are also worried workers with minimum coverage will avoid doctor visits and not take needed medications. This could lead to increased illness, chronic disease and decreased productivity. Bridging the Generation Gap– Baby Boomer ...

No matter your number of employees, payroll functions are a basic necessity for all companies. It’s also one of the most challenging functions to complete. Payroll must be done efficiently and accurately. There are many aspects that make payroll processing tricky. Some of them are listed below: Many items are processed on employee paychecks. This includes deductions for state and federal income taxes, state unemployment and FICA Medicare. In addition, other deductions or additions could include union dues, 401K plans, health insurance, vacation pay and garnishments. It’s important to note deductions such as state unemployment, 401K and FICA, have annual maximums and they normally change each year. State and federal income tax tables also normally change each year. Don’t forget records for car allowances, expense reimbursements and commissions need to be maintained and sometimes taxed.  Reporting payroll is also difficult. Reports must include a variety of calculations for benefits. The ...

According to the U.S. Labor Department, applications for unemployment benefits recently fell by 10,000 to 382,000. The four week average of new unemployment claims for benefits, which is viewed as extremely reflective of trends in the current labor market, declined by 5,750 to 389,500.   During the week ending on March 26, the U.S. Labor Department says the number of people receiving state jobless benefits fell by 9,000 to 3.72 million. That marks the lowest level since October 2008. People receiving federal payments through emergency programs, which were implemented to help the economic slump, were decreased by 25,786 to 3.56 for the week ending March 19.   According to the Labor Department, last month, the unemployment rate fell to 8.8 percent as the U.S. economy gained 216,000 new jobs. In addition, joblessness is at its lowest level in more than two years (this is since March 2009—which was a few months before the recession officially concluded). The Labor Department shares a ...

According to a recent poll by BLR (an online compensation data and tools web site for employers), coming to work “business casual” is one of the most recent fashion trends at today’s companies. Employees are happy with this trend because it means they don’t have to worry about buying expensive clothes to wear to work. Casual clothes are far less expensive than business suits for men and women. It seems that as more companies are allowing and encouraging casual dress at work, this is actually becoming more the “norm” in today’s business world—as opposed to being the exception (as previously was the case).   When BLR readers were asked to provide an explanation of their company dress code, here were the results:   Business Casual Dress – 46% Relaxed and Casual Dress – 37% Very Relaxed (meaning employees choose any type of clothing) – 9% Traditional Business Attire – 7%   According to the results, almost half o ...

According to new research by MetLife, employees value non-medical benefits more than companies think. According to MetLife’s 9th Annual “Study of Employee Benefit Trends: A Blueprint for the New Benefits Economy,” about 52 percent of employees reported being interested in a wider array of voluntary benefits, while only 43 percent of employers thought their workers felt that way. Therefore, there is a disconnect between perceptions of voluntary benefits held by employers and employees. Employees see the choice, cost and convenience advantages that voluntary benefits offer. According to the study, workers in all age groups have encouraging views on voluntary benefits: 64 percent of Gen Y (ages 21-20), 66 percent of Gen X (ages 30-45), 62 percent of “younger boomers” (ages 45-54) and 66 percent of “older boomers” (ages 55-65) understand comparable products outside of the workplace costs more. 57 percent of Gen Y, 66 percent of Gen X, 59 percent of y ...