Tag Archives: employees

Are you getting a holiday bonus?

With the economy slowly improving, is your boss feeling generous this holiday season?
Not quite half — 45 percent — of U.S. employers plan to give employees holiday bonuses, according to a CareerBuilder survey released today.
That’s virtually unchanged from 46 percent a year ago.
Cash isn’t the only holiday perk. Fifty-nine percent of the companies surveyed said they would hold holiday parties this year, while 35 percent plan to give employees gifts, according to the survey.
Harris Interactive surveyed 3,484 workers and 2,099 hiring managers and human resource professionals representing a variety of industries and size of companies.
Bosses aren’t the only ones giving holiday gifts. Twenty-two percent of workers plan to give gifts to co-workers and 21 percent will give their boss a present.
Surveyors also asked workers to list some of the “most unusual” gifts they’ve received from a co-worker.
On the list:
50 pounds of fresh Louisiana shrimp
A picture of the boss’s family
A plaster cast of a co-worker’s hand
A half-eaten box of candy
Click here for the complete survey results.

Deadline near for DoD Freedom Award

The nominations deadline for the 2013 Freedom Award, which is given to civilian employers for their support of employees serving in the National Guard and Reserve, is less than two weeks away.

Nominations for the Secretary of Defense Employer Support Freedom Award must be received by Jan. 21. The award is the nation’s highest recognition presented to employers.

The Tennessee Valley Authority was one of 15 employers nationwide to receive the award in 2012 and was a semifinalist for the award in 2011 and 2010.

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Companies not hiring but still in party mood

Despite a still sluggish economy, 70 percent of companies will hold holiday parties for their employees this year, according to a survey by outplacement consultancy firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas.

“The economy is not improving as fast as many had hoped. While some companies are seeing improvements, most are still stuck in first gear and continue to hold off on hiring, equipment upgrades and other big expenditures. Yet, despite the less-than-celebratory business conditions, the majority of companies refuse to abandon the year-end holiday party,” CEO John A. Challenger said in a news release.

Is your company still in a party mood?

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Employee perks making a comeback

It seems hard to believe, but come companies are bringing back perks in an effort to keep employees from taking a better gig.

So says a recent survey by global outplacement and executive coaching consultancy Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc.

Forty-two percent of the of the HR execs surveyed said they are “growing more concerned about other companies poaching top talent, as the economy improves,” Challenger said in a press release.

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Clueless CEOs bad for business

Some top executives just don’t have a clue about the real world, the world where their customers and employees struggle to cope with the rising cost of food, fuel and other necessities.

A new report by the Associated Press shows that CEOs at many of the largest companies in PAULSON+MONEY.jpg the U.S. were paid better last year than they were in 2007 — “when the economy was booming, the stock market set a record high and unemployment was roughly half what it is today.”

AP’s study found that the typical pay for the top exec at a Standard & Poor’s 500 company was $9 million last year, up 24 percent from 2009.

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Free money from the IRS

The IRS today announced a bit of good news for employers and employees. That’s a sentence you rarely read.

As a result of the Affordable Care Act, “health coverage provided for an employee’s children under 27 years of age is now generally tax-free to the employee,” according to a press release.

What this means is that companies with cafeteria plans can allow employees “to begin making pre-tax contributions to pay for this expanded benefit,” the IRS said. The release defines cafeteria plans as those “that allow employees to choose from a menu of tax-free benefit options and cash or taxable benefits.”

Details on the IRS guidance are available here.

Read the full press release here.