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The Present State of the 401-K

A few new findings that you should know: 

 

Audit Programs:

A 401k audit is most likely going to become part of your future this year.  A recent United States Supreme Court ruling has paved the way for retirement plan participants to sue the sponsors of retirement plans for losses incurred if any fiduciary misconduct or mismanagement can be shown.  In order for companies to protect themselves from such litigation, a 401K audit  is going to have to be carried out, and the estimated cost of such audits are running about $15,000.  This is a considerable expense, but the risk of a lawsuit could be so much greater.  Can you afford that risk???

The best way to avoid exposure is to discuss with CBR the advantage of shifting the risk and liability for your 401K over to CBR and completely removing yourself from the risk of getting sued.  How is this possible? It is possible through the Multiple Employer Plan, or MEP.  The MEP allows many employers to have their own plan, administered by CBR without the risks.  The CBR MEP has features that protect our client companies from traditional fiduciary and plan trustee liabilities.  If your current 401(K) plan is out of compliance, employees are able to pierce the corporate veil and go after the personal assets of the plan sponsor-usually the business owner. 

I also saw this recent survey from BLR.com:

"A survey of compensation and HR professionals indicates that 80% of employers have maintained their matching contributions to employee 401(k) plans throughout the recession. What’s more, of the organizations that suspended their match, half say they will consider reinstating it this year. "

Posted February 8th, 2010 by Jessica Spinks - Posted in 2009 Money-Saving Strategies, Wages | | 3 Comments

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To Pay or Not to Pay

 

 

 

Courtesy of Pat DiDomenico at Business Management Daily

Last month’s news that AT&T is facing a $1 billion (with a B!) class-action lawsuit over wage-and-hour mistakes put a jolt into U.S. employers of all sizes. That came on the heels of word that the U.S. Department of Labor dramatically beefed up its enforcement division. If this doesn’t scare you, it should.

A BusinessWeek report says Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) lawsuits have “exploded nationwide,” and that “because wage-and-hour laws have been so widely violated, undetonated land mines remain buried in countless companies.”

Which pay-related mistakes are you making?

  • Employees wrongly classified as exempt from overtime?
  • Hourly employees paid incorrectly (or not at all) for their travel time?
  • Failing to retain payroll records for the right amount of time (3 years, right?)?
  • You closed the shop when the blizzard hit – do you have to pay the staff?
  • Violating – or being unaware of – the “rounding law”?

All it takes is one employee filing one complaint to get the class-action snowball rolling downhill. Wal-Mart paid $640 million; IBM coughed up $65 million; Siebel forked over $27 million. Amazon is facing a huge lawsuit for allegedly violating the rounding law.
 

 Something to think about….

Posted January 27th, 2010 by Jessica Spinks - Posted in 2009 Money-Saving Strategies, Human Resources | | 0 Comments

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Pay My Bill Contest !

 

Help My Resume is dedicated to helping the millions of unemployed across America by offering no-charge assistance programs designed to improve a recipient’s marketable skills and self-confidence. Our programs include:
 
•Professional rewriting services
•A Grant Program to address an immediate financial emergency
•Ready Start Program that supplies job candidates with a new set of clothes
•Scholarship Program that awards persons with an educational scholarship fee of $2,500 or $5,000.
•Get Healthy Program to help those who desire to improve their level of physical fitness and emotional well being
 
 
Flippin Creative Inc. has put together The Flippin Pay My Bill Contest to help one household with their gas and/or electric bill for one year. This contest was also established to raise awareness about Help My Resume and to raise money to continue to service unemployed individuals across the United States. This contest is registered with the great State of Arizona.
Prizes Include:
1) One Grand Prize Winner: Will receive $3,600.00 to put towards their gas and/or electric bill
2) One Runner Up: Will receive a brand new 2nd generation 32 GB Ipod touch
3) One Third Place Winner: Will receive a gift card to Macy’s worth $150.00
 
Here is how it works:
1) Click the Donate button to donate $10.00. With your donation you will automatically be entered to receive one of three prizes.
2) We are only allowing 10,000 entries so, you have a 1 in 10,000 chance of having your utilities paid up to $3,600.00.
3) On October 1, 2009 we will pick one grand prize winner and a second and third place winner. Winners will be notified by phone and email.
 
 

Visit their site for more details at http://helpmyresume.org/index.html

 

Posted September 1st, 2009 by Jessica Spinks - Posted in 2009 Money-Saving Strategies, Human Resources | | 2 Comments

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Save a buck or maybe two…

We all need to save a buck or two in this economy. Have you looked at your vendor relations lately? There are some really simple ways to cut some of your monthly costs that would take an hour of your time to examine.

- Call your cable and internet provider and ask if there are any special promotions going on right now? 

 - Take a look at your companies cell phone plan. Are you using all of your minutes, texts? I guarantee there is at least one way you can save money.

- Stop buying bottled water, and use filters. Give your clients a glass of water when they come visit.

- Look for coupons for your office supply order and actually use them!

- Revisit your vendor contracts and see if you are still using all of the services you are paying for.

You see not enough people take the time to do this and what the worse they can say? No? Its really not that bad.

Posted July 16th, 2009 by Jessica Spinks - Posted in 2009 Money-Saving Strategies, Wages | | 0 Comments