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Wage Theft Laws: What You Need to Know to Protect Your Business

Wage Theft Laws: What You Need to Know to Protect Your Business

With increasing frequency, states are adopting "wage theft” bills. Because of this, TriNet has made the move to protect our clients by having worksite employees (WSEs) authorize their payroll deductions with us directly. l

April 21, 2016 ・3 mins read

American Presidential Candidates Are Failing Small Businesses: An Open Letter from the CEO of TriNet

The following letter from TriNet CEO Burton M. Goldfield is in response to the TriNet 2016 Presidential Election Survey Dear 2016 Presidential Candidates: As the CEO of TriNet, I work to provide HR services for more than 12,000 U.S. small businesses and their 314,000 employees every day. I see firsthand the struggles these aspirational companies go through as they try to grow their businesses while navigating an increasingly volatile regulatory landscape. What’s even more challenging is that when they flourish, they face a heightened impact of ever-changing regulatory issues. Whether it’s differing tax or labor laws at the federal, state and local levels, or the states’ varying degrees of Affordable Care Act implementation, there is a plethora of employment law with which they have to comply. What you perceive to be a minor tax change at the federal, state or local level may impact a small business to the tune of $20,000. This can put them out of business. Large companies can more easily absorb these unanticipated costs. These complexities skew the focus of small businesses away from successfully executing their business plans.

February 18, 2016 ・3 mins read

Small Business Owners Tell Us How They Really Feel About the 2016 Presidential Candidates

February 17, 2016 ・1 min read

3 Steps Employers Can Take to Address Changing Marijuana Laws

Legalization of marijuana has been one of the fastest moving trends in the country. Moving through the haze of state and federal laws on the legal status of marijuana can be difficult. However, if employers take a step back, they will see that it should mostly be “business as usual” at their workplace. To effectively deal with this issue, employers should consider these three steps.

Key HR Regulations You Should Keep in Mind While Planning 2017, Part 1

2017 brings many changes, including a new administration in the White House starting Jan. 20. Many in the HR community predict that the new administration will also bring a host of regulatory changes that could impact you and your business. In this two-part series, we have compiled a list of key issues that you should keep an eye on as you plan for 2017.

At-Will Employment: Not All It’s Cracked Up to be for Employers

All too often, small business managers think, “my business is in an at-will state, which means we can terminate someone’s employment for any reason or for no reason at all, right?” Wrong. There are a number of exceptions to the employment-at-will doctrine.

How Small And Medium Size Businesses Can Prepare For The Impact Of Covid 19 - Part 2

The COVID-19 pandemic is causing a lot of uncertainty and concern for everyone across the globe. As a small and medium size business (SMB) owner you are likely facing challenges that are unique to those faced by larger corporations, and it’s also likely that you may be unsure about steps to take to protect and support your employees while ensuring you’re doing all the swiftly changing laws require.

・15 mins read

Exempt or Non-Exempt? A Loaded (and Potentially Costly!) Question

Exempt/non-exempt status refers to an employee’s eligibility for overtime pay and certain other legal rights. This status is determined based on applicable law and such factors as the nature of the employee’s work, duties and responsibilities, and level and form of compensation. It can be extremely costly to miscategorize an employee.

It’s National Payroll Week! Recognizing the Payroll Pros – The People Who Make Sure We Get Paid

In these unprecedented and challenging times, there is one thing we all know for sure: we still want our paycheck. And payroll teams across the country are continuing to work in the background, through all the trials brought on by the pandemic, to make sure you get that paycheck on time, every single time.

Overtime Rule Delay -- What Actions Should You Take?

As you may have heard, a federal court issued an order blocking the new Fair Labor Standards Act overtime rule from taking effect on December 1, 2016. Many businesses had already made plans to implement changes based on the anticipated effective date, but now that the rule has been delayed, perhaps indefinitely, they are wondering what to do next.

7 Trending HR Topics You Must Know in 2016

April 13, 2016 ・3 mins read

The New Minimum Salary for Exempt Status Could More Than Double in 2016. Here is What You Need to Know to be Prepared

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) is in the process of amending the overtime exemption rules under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Currently, the FLSA provides an exemption from overtime pay for employees who meet certain tests regarding their job duties and who are paid on a salary basis at no less than $455 a week. This new rule would dramatically increase the number of employees eligible for overtime pay by the end of 2016. Under the proposed new regulations, the threshold for exempt status would go from $23,600 per year ($455 per week) to $50,440 per year ($970 per week) – an amount in the 40th percentile of earnings for full-time salaried workers, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). The DOL estimates that this increase in salary threshold for exempt status would affect approximately five million workers, making them eligible for overtime pay. In California alone, 420,000 workers would be affected. Why the increase in exempt status salary? President Obama directed the DOL to change their minimum pay for exempt status because more and more employees worked in excess of 40 hours per week for pay that would put them below the federal poverty threshold. The wage threshold hasn’t changed since 2004, which is the only time it has been updated since the 1970s. Importantly, the new regulation would also include changes to the salary threshold every year, based on wage growth and inflation.

March 14, 2016 ・4 mins read

What You Need to Know About the Latest HR Technology Trends

Business today is all about leveraging the power of technology for efficiency, security and convenience. With new cloud technologies, automating your HR tasks doesn’t need to be cost-prohibitive. Instead, it can be an indispensable tool for managing your most important resource (your employees) at an efficient price and pace. Human resources creates dozens of pieces of paper for every employee, including applications, background checks, insurance, employment and benefits forms, and post-separation forms. Luckily, there is an answer to dealing with paper, and achieving more oversight and control over HR records. Mobile HR and cloud applications are changing the way people work – helping to alleviate the cost and time burdens of managing documents and ushering in a brand new era of data management.

February 22, 2016 ・5 mins read

Protecting Your Data is Critical: Is your employer-sponsored retirement plan keeping up with best practices for information security?

Protecting Your Data is Critical: Is your employer-sponsored retirement plan keeping up with best practices for information security?

The need to protect data exchanged in connection with 401(k) plans has been highlighted recently due to guidance released by the Department of Labor (DOL). Earlier this year, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) issued a report entitled “Defined Contribution Plans: Federal Guidance Could Help Mitigate Cybersecurity Risks in 401(k) and Other Retirement Plans.” In the report, the GAO found that, while plan sponsors and their service providers (record keepers, third party administrators, custodians and payroll providers) are required to exchange the sensitive personally identifiable information of the over 100 million individuals who participate in defined contribution plans, the DOL had not clarified “the fiduciary responsibility for mitigating cyber risks.”

Mental Health Parity: What Employers Need to Know

Mental health parity describes the equal treatment of mental health conditions and substance use disorders in insurance plans. It is important for business owners to be aware of laws around mental health parity to avoid contracting with an insurance carrier whose plan design does not meet the standard. True mental health parity may be a work in progress but as an employer, you can take steps to minimize the impact of mental health issues in the work environment.

To Our Valued Customers From TriNet President and CEO Burton Goldfield

As we come together to navigate this challenging global event, our thoughts go out to those impacted by COVID-19. TriNet continues to closely monitor the situation and is following the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommendations for preventing spread of the virus

The Unemployment Road Map, Part 1: How to Navigate Through an Unemployment Claim

Even the best employment relationships eventually come to an end and sometimes, when they do, they result in the former employee filing for unemployment benefits. If you’ve received an unemployment claim and are not experienced with the process, you will likely have some questions. This blog series, The Unemployment Road Map, is a resource that TriNet offers to provide you with guidance on this journey.

Families First Coronavirus Response Act: What It Means for Your Small and Medium Size Business

The COVID-19 pandemic is causing a lot of uncertainty and concern for everyone across the globe. As a small and medium size business (SMB) owner you are likely facing challenges that are unique to those faced by larger corporations, and it’s also likely that you may be unsure about steps to take to protect and support your employees while ensuring you’re doing all the swiftly changing laws require.

・17 mins read

Learning to Let Go: Best Practices for Handling Employee Terminations

Terminating employees is often difficult and always fraught with considerable legal risk. But there are several key best practices you can follow that can ease the transition and help protect your business.

Why Now Might be a Good Time to Consider a High-Deductible Health Plan

With healthcare reform currently in flux, many business owners may find themselves trying to grapple with the best way to continue providing their employees with competitive benefits. While TriNet can help individual businesses design a benefits strategy that works for their industry, location and size, now may also be a good time for businesses across the country to take a closer look at high-deductible health plans (HDHPs).

The Unemployment Road Map, Part 5: Timely, Sufficient and Adequate Responses

Separation issues represent the largest cause of overpayments that employers can control. Inaction on the part of employers, including either the failure to respond to state requests for information or responding with inadequate information, can contribute significantly to benefit overpayments.

Wage Theft Laws: What You Need to Know to Protect Your Business

Wage Theft Laws: What You Need to Know to Protect Your Business

With increasing frequency, states are adopting "wage theft” bills. Because of this, TriNet has made the move to protect our clients by having worksite employees (WSEs) authorize their payroll deductions with us directly. l

April 21, 2016 ・3 mins read

7 Trending HR Topics You Must Know in 2016

April 13, 2016 ・3 mins read

The New Minimum Salary for Exempt Status Could More Than Double in 2016. Here is What You Need to Know to be Prepared

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) is in the process of amending the overtime exemption rules under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Currently, the FLSA provides an exemption from overtime pay for employees who meet certain tests regarding their job duties and who are paid on a salary basis at no less than $455 a week. This new rule would dramatically increase the number of employees eligible for overtime pay by the end of 2016. Under the proposed new regulations, the threshold for exempt status would go from $23,600 per year ($455 per week) to $50,440 per year ($970 per week) – an amount in the 40th percentile of earnings for full-time salaried workers, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). The DOL estimates that this increase in salary threshold for exempt status would affect approximately five million workers, making them eligible for overtime pay. In California alone, 420,000 workers would be affected. Why the increase in exempt status salary? President Obama directed the DOL to change their minimum pay for exempt status because more and more employees worked in excess of 40 hours per week for pay that would put them below the federal poverty threshold. The wage threshold hasn’t changed since 2004, which is the only time it has been updated since the 1970s. Importantly, the new regulation would also include changes to the salary threshold every year, based on wage growth and inflation.

March 14, 2016 ・4 mins read

What You Need to Know About the Latest HR Technology Trends

Business today is all about leveraging the power of technology for efficiency, security and convenience. With new cloud technologies, automating your HR tasks doesn’t need to be cost-prohibitive. Instead, it can be an indispensable tool for managing your most important resource (your employees) at an efficient price and pace. Human resources creates dozens of pieces of paper for every employee, including applications, background checks, insurance, employment and benefits forms, and post-separation forms. Luckily, there is an answer to dealing with paper, and achieving more oversight and control over HR records. Mobile HR and cloud applications are changing the way people work – helping to alleviate the cost and time burdens of managing documents and ushering in a brand new era of data management.

February 22, 2016 ・5 mins read

American Presidential Candidates Are Failing Small Businesses: An Open Letter from the CEO of TriNet

The following letter from TriNet CEO Burton M. Goldfield is in response to the TriNet 2016 Presidential Election Survey Dear 2016 Presidential Candidates: As the CEO of TriNet, I work to provide HR services for more than 12,000 U.S. small businesses and their 314,000 employees every day. I see firsthand the struggles these aspirational companies go through as they try to grow their businesses while navigating an increasingly volatile regulatory landscape. What’s even more challenging is that when they flourish, they face a heightened impact of ever-changing regulatory issues. Whether it’s differing tax or labor laws at the federal, state and local levels, or the states’ varying degrees of Affordable Care Act implementation, there is a plethora of employment law with which they have to comply. What you perceive to be a minor tax change at the federal, state or local level may impact a small business to the tune of $20,000. This can put them out of business. Large companies can more easily absorb these unanticipated costs. These complexities skew the focus of small businesses away from successfully executing their business plans.

February 18, 2016 ・3 mins read

Small Business Owners Tell Us How They Really Feel About the 2016 Presidential Candidates

February 17, 2016 ・1 min read

Protecting Your Data is Critical: Is your employer-sponsored retirement plan keeping up with best practices for information security?

Protecting Your Data is Critical: Is your employer-sponsored retirement plan keeping up with best practices for information security?

The need to protect data exchanged in connection with 401(k) plans has been highlighted recently due to guidance released by the Department of Labor (DOL). Earlier this year, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) issued a report entitled “Defined Contribution Plans: Federal Guidance Could Help Mitigate Cybersecurity Risks in 401(k) and Other Retirement Plans.” In the report, the GAO found that, while plan sponsors and their service providers (record keepers, third party administrators, custodians and payroll providers) are required to exchange the sensitive personally identifiable information of the over 100 million individuals who participate in defined contribution plans, the DOL had not clarified “the fiduciary responsibility for mitigating cyber risks.”

3 Steps Employers Can Take to Address Changing Marijuana Laws

Legalization of marijuana has been one of the fastest moving trends in the country. Moving through the haze of state and federal laws on the legal status of marijuana can be difficult. However, if employers take a step back, they will see that it should mostly be “business as usual” at their workplace. To effectively deal with this issue, employers should consider these three steps.

Mental Health Parity: What Employers Need to Know

Mental health parity describes the equal treatment of mental health conditions and substance use disorders in insurance plans. It is important for business owners to be aware of laws around mental health parity to avoid contracting with an insurance carrier whose plan design does not meet the standard. True mental health parity may be a work in progress but as an employer, you can take steps to minimize the impact of mental health issues in the work environment.

Key HR Regulations You Should Keep in Mind While Planning 2017, Part 1

2017 brings many changes, including a new administration in the White House starting Jan. 20. Many in the HR community predict that the new administration will also bring a host of regulatory changes that could impact you and your business. In this two-part series, we have compiled a list of key issues that you should keep an eye on as you plan for 2017.

To Our Valued Customers From TriNet President and CEO Burton Goldfield

As we come together to navigate this challenging global event, our thoughts go out to those impacted by COVID-19. TriNet continues to closely monitor the situation and is following the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommendations for preventing spread of the virus

At-Will Employment: Not All It’s Cracked Up to be for Employers

All too often, small business managers think, “my business is in an at-will state, which means we can terminate someone’s employment for any reason or for no reason at all, right?” Wrong. There are a number of exceptions to the employment-at-will doctrine.

The Unemployment Road Map, Part 1: How to Navigate Through an Unemployment Claim

Even the best employment relationships eventually come to an end and sometimes, when they do, they result in the former employee filing for unemployment benefits. If you’ve received an unemployment claim and are not experienced with the process, you will likely have some questions. This blog series, The Unemployment Road Map, is a resource that TriNet offers to provide you with guidance on this journey.

How Small And Medium Size Businesses Can Prepare For The Impact Of Covid 19 - Part 2

The COVID-19 pandemic is causing a lot of uncertainty and concern for everyone across the globe. As a small and medium size business (SMB) owner you are likely facing challenges that are unique to those faced by larger corporations, and it’s also likely that you may be unsure about steps to take to protect and support your employees while ensuring you’re doing all the swiftly changing laws require.

・15 mins read

Families First Coronavirus Response Act: What It Means for Your Small and Medium Size Business

The COVID-19 pandemic is causing a lot of uncertainty and concern for everyone across the globe. As a small and medium size business (SMB) owner you are likely facing challenges that are unique to those faced by larger corporations, and it’s also likely that you may be unsure about steps to take to protect and support your employees while ensuring you’re doing all the swiftly changing laws require.

・17 mins read

Exempt or Non-Exempt? A Loaded (and Potentially Costly!) Question

Exempt/non-exempt status refers to an employee’s eligibility for overtime pay and certain other legal rights. This status is determined based on applicable law and such factors as the nature of the employee’s work, duties and responsibilities, and level and form of compensation. It can be extremely costly to miscategorize an employee.

Learning to Let Go: Best Practices for Handling Employee Terminations

Terminating employees is often difficult and always fraught with considerable legal risk. But there are several key best practices you can follow that can ease the transition and help protect your business.

It’s National Payroll Week! Recognizing the Payroll Pros – The People Who Make Sure We Get Paid

In these unprecedented and challenging times, there is one thing we all know for sure: we still want our paycheck. And payroll teams across the country are continuing to work in the background, through all the trials brought on by the pandemic, to make sure you get that paycheck on time, every single time.

Why Now Might be a Good Time to Consider a High-Deductible Health Plan

With healthcare reform currently in flux, many business owners may find themselves trying to grapple with the best way to continue providing their employees with competitive benefits. While TriNet can help individual businesses design a benefits strategy that works for their industry, location and size, now may also be a good time for businesses across the country to take a closer look at high-deductible health plans (HDHPs).

Overtime Rule Delay -- What Actions Should You Take?

As you may have heard, a federal court issued an order blocking the new Fair Labor Standards Act overtime rule from taking effect on December 1, 2016. Many businesses had already made plans to implement changes based on the anticipated effective date, but now that the rule has been delayed, perhaps indefinitely, they are wondering what to do next.

The Unemployment Road Map, Part 5: Timely, Sufficient and Adequate Responses

Separation issues represent the largest cause of overpayments that employers can control. Inaction on the part of employers, including either the failure to respond to state requests for information or responding with inadequate information, can contribute significantly to benefit overpayments.

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