Employers Get More Time for Obamacare Reporting

Citing stakeholder feedback, the Obama administration is giving employers an additional three months to comply with the reporting requirements of the Affordable Care Act.The U.S. Department of the Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service on Monday extended the Feb. 29  paper and March 31 electro...

By Matthew Heller • Jan. 1, 2016

CFOs on the Move: Week Ending Dec. 25

Dennis Weibling has been appointed interim CFO at Sotheby’s, replacing Patrick McClymont. Weibling, who has been on Sotheby’s board of directors since 2006, succeeds Patrick McClymont, the auction house’s finance chief since October 2013.Olivier Thirot Staffing firm Kelly Services has promoted Ol...

By Joan Urdang • Dec. 23, 2015

Eight Talent Arena Trends for 2016

Eric Goldstein With unemployment at its lowest rate since early 2008, the fight for qualified talent is fierce. New tools and tactics are needed to attract and retain the best and brightest.Based on insights from 24 global experts, talent-acquisition firm Korn Ferry Futurestep has shared its view...

By Eric Goldstein • Dec. 17, 2015

CFOs on the Move: Week Ending December 11

Leeny Kelly Oberg Leeny Kelly ObergCarl Berquist is retiring as finance chief of Marriott International on Dec. 31, but will stay on as a special adviser to the company through March of next year. On Jan. 1, he will be succeeded as CFO by Leeny Kelly Oberg, who now holds the top finance spot at M...

By Joan Urdang • Dec. 11, 2015

Unemployment Claims Climb to Five-Month High

The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits rose to a five-month high last week. But that and other economic reports did not affect sentiment that the U.S. Federal Reserve will raise interest rates next week.Initial claims for state unemployment benefits increased 13,000 to a seasona...

By Matthew Heller • Dec. 10, 2015

New State Laws Support Uber’s Business Model

Uber is making headway in getting states to support its business model, which classifies drivers as independent contractors rather than employees.The model has been disputed in states such as California, where drivers contend in a class-action lawsuit that they should be treated as employees, whi...

By Matthew Heller • Dec. 10, 2015

Strong Turnaround Leads CFO to the CEO Chair

Jim Cline never aspired to be a CEO. After serving as finance chief for more than seven years at Trex, a publicly held maker of wood-alternative outdoor decks and railings, he ascended to the top executive role in August of this year. But, at 64, it was Cline’s unbiased appraisal of the business’...

By David McCann • Dec. 10, 2015

74% of Employers Exposed to ‘Cadillac Tax’

A new survey challenges the conventional wisdom that only especially generous employer health plans would be subject to the Affordable Care Act‘s “Cadillac tax” provision.Effective in 2018, the law would levy a 40% tax on health insurance plans that cost more than $10,200 for individuals and $27,...

By Katie Kuehner-Hebert • Dec. 9, 2015

U.S. Job Cuts Hit 14-Month Low in November

In another sign of a strengthening labor market, planned layoffs in November fell to the lowest level in more than a year, according to a new report.The global outplacement consultancy Challenger, Gray & Christmas said employers reported workforce reductions totaling 30,953 in November, 39% f...

By Matthew Heller • Dec. 7, 2015

Future Finance Leaders: We’ll Shun Environmentally Challenged Firms

If you think your company can get by without paying a lot of attention to environmental issues, perhaps you’re right. But you’re not likely to have the pick of the litter when it comes to hiring young finance staff.That’s according to new research from Yale University’s Center for Business and th...

By David McCann • Dec. 3, 2015

Treasury Targets Non-Savers With New ‘MyRA’

The U.S. Treasury Department has launched the “myRA,” a new retirement account designed as a starter option for workers who don’t have a savings plan at work.In his 2014 State of the Union address, President Barack Obama announced that he would direct the Treasury Department to develop myRA for t...

By Matthew Heller • Nov. 5, 2015

Eleventh-Hour Budget Deal Hikes Pension Premiums, Again

The Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015 (BBA), passed by the House of Representatives on Tuesday, contains some eye-opening provisions, like suspending the national debt limit through 2017 and significantly raising federal spending caps imposed by the Budget Control Act of 2011.In the consumer media, l...

By David McCann • Oct. 29, 2015

Law Preserves Self-Funding as an Option for Many Companies

A law signed by President Obama on Oct. 7 with little fanfare could effectively save thousands of companies from losing the option to lower costs by self-funding employees’ health benefits.The Protecting Affordable Coverage for Employees Act (PACE) gives states leeway in defining what constitutes...

By David McCann • Oct. 21, 2015

Trendy Health-Care Payment Scheme Hikes Workers’ Compensation Costs

A major trend in contractual payment arrangements between medical providers and payers, intended to lower costs while improving the quality of care, triggers cost-shifting from group health plans to workers’ compensation, according to a new study. The shift hinders some employers from reaping the...

By David McCann • Oct. 8, 2015

How Big Data Can Help Cut Employee Turnover Costs

Today’s job market for highly skilled employees is white hot. The workforce is quick to move from one opportunity to another, and employers are faced with high costs for recruiting and reduced efficiencies resulting from having to constantly train new employees.The exact cost of turnover is hard ...

By Shaheen Dil • Oct. 6, 2015

Wal-Mart Lays Off 450 Workers at Arkansas HQ

Wal-Mart is laying off 450 workers including some managers and vice presidents at its Bentonville, Ark. headquarters amid slow sales and shifts in the retail business.“After months of evaluation, we’ve concluded there is an opportunity to better position our Home Office teams to move with speed a...

By Katie Kuehner-Hebert • Oct. 2, 2015

Pay Ratio Rule Gives Shareholders Better Exec Comp Info

This is one of three opinion articles debating the merits of the new CEO pay ratio rule. See the others here and here.The gap between CEO and worker pay has been an issue for decades, but it came into sharp focus as a result of the financial crisis of 2008 and the Great Recession that followed.He...

By Heather Slavkin Corzo • Oct. 1, 2015

CEO Pay Ratio Opens Fair-Pay Debate to Everyone

This is one of three opinion articles debating the merits of the new CEO pay ratio rule. See the others here and here.The CEO pay ratio disclosure to be required beginning in 2018 may create the opportunity for mischief by politicians, pundits, the media, and others, because it focuses on the fun...

By Steve Seelig • Oct. 1, 2015

Deep-Six the CEO Pay Ratio Rule

This is one of three opinion articles debating the merits of the new CEO pay ratio rule. See the others here and here.The Dodd-Frank pay ratio requirement should be repealed, as the disclosure would neither provide shareholders with useful information nor facilitate a better understanding of pay ...

By Timothy J. Bartl • Oct. 1, 2015

Does the CEO Pay Ratio Rule Have Merit?

This is an introduction to a package of three opinion articles debating the merits of the new CEO pay ratio rule. One opposes it, another is in favor of it, and a third offers a very different take on the matter.Publicly held companies have to make a lot of disclosures, so what’s one more? Actual...

By David McCann • Oct. 1, 2015

Don’t Fear the Whistleblower

Only 20% of whistleblowers disclose their concerns to someone outside the company, creating an opportunity for employers to preempt the involvement of regulators, according to a recent report.Urging employers to embrace whistleblowers and “cultivate a culture of reporting,” The Network, a provide...

By Matthew Heller • Sept. 28, 2015

CFOs on the Move: Week Ended Sept. 25

United Natural Foods has named Michael Zechmeister CFO and treasurer, replacing Mark Shamber, effective in mid-October. Zechmeister comes to the company from General Mills, where he was vice president of finance with Yoplait USA.Mark McGivney has been promoted to the top finance spot at Marsh &am...

By Joan Urdang • Sept. 25, 2015

High Deductibles Spur Health Cost Shift to Workers

Almost a quarter of U.S. workers with employer health benefits are now enrolled in high-deductible plans and 81% of plans require works to pay out of pocket before their coverage kicks in, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.A decade ago, only 55% of plans even had a deductible and enrollme...

By Matthew Heller • Sept. 24, 2015

Bonuses to Be Underfunded for 5th Straight Year

For the fifth straight year, U.S. employers won’t be fully funding their annual employee bonuses in 2015 — meaning they expect their annual bonus pools to be below their target levels. They are doing so “even though most of them are having difficulty attracting and retaining top talent,” Towers W...

By Matthew Heller • Sept. 18, 2015

Rise in Health Plan Costs to Continue in 2016

Employers expect another year of health benefit cost increases in 2016, but consumer-directed plans may be helping some companies moderate the increases, according to a Mercer survey.The consulting firm said its survey of more than 1,200 employers showed that health benefit cost per employee will...

By Matthew Heller • Sept. 17, 2015