Returning Value Blog

The SECURE 2.0 Act aims to expand the ease of saving for retirement, to simplify the management of retirement plans, and, in general to improve financial security for American workers and retirees. The updated law includes new options for 401(k) and 403(b) employer contributions, adjustments to the required minimum distribution age for IRAs, and increased catch-up contribution limits. The act also has incentives to encourage employee enrollment.

First quiet quitting, now quiet vacationing. What is going on? This is a good question with complicated answers.

Companies and workers had to rapidly adjust and improvise during the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic. Now that work-from-home routines and policies have become more established, employers are creating policies to provide their remote employees with tools for productivity and comfort.

According to the National Association of Background Screeners, 95% of U.S. employers use background checks when hiring employees. Background checks cannot look at medical history or genetic information, but they are legal for assessing a person's work history, education, criminal record, financial history, or social media use.

Simple payroll errors are avoidable, but if you don’t pay attention, you could end up facing consequences that cost thousands of dollars in compliance penalties. Not only that but you might have to deal with unwanted attention on both you and your payroll department.

On the surface, earned wage access is a simple, effective employee benefit; for a small fee — typically less than $5.00 per transaction — employees can access a portion of their paycheck before their actual payday. Many workers have minimal savings in the event of an emergency, and EWA can be a far less expensive alternative to high-interest payday loans.

The IRS recently released guidance providing the 2025 inflation-adjusted amounts for Health Savings Accounts (HSAs). These amounts are adjusted each year, based on inflation, and the adjustments are announced earlier in the year than other inflation-adjusted amounts, which allows employers to get ready for the next year.

Worker productivity has been in the headlines recently. One reason is the easy access employers have to the many technologies that can monitor employees — from software that tracks when an employee swipes their badge at work to software that notes how long someone is at their computer and what they do while they are there. Another is a certain manifesting distrust of workers, particularly the increased numbers of remote workers. Either way, there's impetus for employers to actively watch what their employees are doing.

The ways to pay employees — especially as money continues moving into the digital sphere — have proliferated. You have options. Choose the one that best fits your business. You may want to peruse the different methods to see which makes the most sense for your business in terms of costs and employer responsibilities.

As part of the SECURE 2.0 law, there’s a new benefit option for employees facing emergencies. It’s called a pension-linked emergency savings account (PLESA), and the provision authorizing it became effective for plan years beginning January 1, 2024. The IRS recently released guidance about the accounts (in Notice 2024-22), and the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) published some frequently asked questions to help employers, plan sponsors, participants, and others understand them.