Benefit strategies

The Internal Revenue Service issued advice on Friday to employers who outsource their payroll duties to third-party service providers.

Hungary reduces social security sick pay benefits, Korean employers to provide paid paternity leave

Sir Richard Branson, founder and president of Virgin Group, believes in making the customer and employee experience a little magical.

Reflecting uncertain economic conditions and a conservative cost-management environment, U.S. employers are projecting moderate pay raises for employees in 2012. Employers expect to fully fund their annual bonuses for workers this year, as corporate profits have increased, according to new survey data by global professional services company Towers Watson of 773 employers.

While companies have been slashing payrolls in recent years, a new study finds that at least they haven't been trimming their severance packages. Severance and change-in-control plans have survived the recession fairly intact, according to a study released this week by WorldatWork and Innovative Compensation and Benefits Concepts LLC (ICBC), an HR consulting firm.

Not every business suffers during a recession. Some industries even thrive because they are recession-proof. But many others experience reduced revenues and lower profitability, even as the economy slowly recovers. But regardless of which side of the downturn you are on, you should downsize, tighten procedures, control expenses, and hold on to profitability as best as you can.

Despite the generally slow job market, three out of four organizations lost high-performing employees they did not want to lose during the past year, according to a survey by Right Management.

Now that Standard & Poor's has issued a negative credit watch on U.S. government debt and acknowledged the possibility that no deal will be reached to raise the government’s debt ceiling, what should investors do?

For Jeff Rose, founder and chief executive officer of Alliance Wealth Management in Carbondale, Ill., one of the best ways to communicate with existing clients and to attract new ones is through his blog.

An entrepreneur has launched a new employee benefits service promising companies access to a network of CPA’s who will offer prepaid tax preparation and year-round tax advice to their employees.

Before joining Zappos Chief Executive Tony Hsieh dreaded coming to work at his own company. It wasn’t fun to work there anymore because the company culture went completely down the drain, he told the keynote audience at the annual Society for Human Resource Management conference in Las Vegas.

Employers feel a greater sense of responsibility for the financial future of their employees following the recession, says new research from Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

European Court of Justice abolishes sex-based differences in insurance policies. Spain's Council of Ministers approves draft social security pension reform.

More than 40% of senior human resources professionals at financial services firms identified a stronger focus on pay issues over the next 12 months than on other HR changes, according to a poll conducted by global consulting company Towers Watson.

As the job market picks up, there is a fear by employers of high turnover due to a lack of engagement with their staff. As a result, as the market settles, engagement of critical talent is a top concern for companies, according to new survey from Aon Hewitt.

It goes without saying that recession taught everyone some valuable lessons about making every penny count and that the employment and financial landscape likely are forever changed.

U.S. private employers added more than 200,000 jobs in March while planned layoffs fell, underscoring expectations that momentum in the labor market will help underpin the economic recovery.

The U.S. labor market is finally improving, just when many of the other economic indicators are wavering.

During the recession and the slow economic recovery, American workers routinely heard the phrase “do more with less." And they did. Productivity gains by U.S. employers were always held up as a bright spot in the down economy.

U.S. companies are dusting off their "help wanted " signs but the pipeline of new jobs is being filled at only a trickle.