Several states do recognize common-law marriage. You will need to review your state’s laws to see if common-law marriage is recognized in your state. Even if a state does not recognize common-law marriage, an employer may choose to recognize this family unit if that decision is compatible with the guidelines of the health insurance carrier. Typically, employers will only recognize common-law if their state does. If you are recognizing common-law marriage and acknowledging it for your healthcare, there are certain requirements an employee should demonstrate to “prove” the established partnership. These requirements could also vary by health insurance carrier and may include signing an Affidavit attesting they meet the requirements. Most health insurance carriers have these forms available. Contact your carrier for details regarding your plan requirements.

Not unless ordered to do so by the EEOC (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission) or the court. You don’t want to get to that point. Instead, be proactive by investing in the education of your employees. Training employees and managers on anti-discrimination, including sexual harassment, is a best practice and highly recommended. Employers with sound policies in place who take the extra step to train on those policies reduce the company’s liability as well as foster a more healthy work environment. Plus, they have a better defense should matters go before the EEOC or, worse, the court system.

Because the spouse has an interest in the accrued benefit. Not every retirement plan will require a spousal consent for a loan or distribution. However, if the plan has to comply with the Retirement Equity Act of 1984 (REA) spousal requirements, then spousal consent is required. If a spousal consent is necessary, ERISA requires the signature of the spouse be witnessed by a notary or plan administrator. Consult your Summary Plan Document, TPA, and applicable federal and state laws for guidance on your plan requirements. All that said, if a plan is not required to have spousal consent by law, the plan’s administrator can elect to do so.

In general, an employee who voluntarily terminates his/her employment is not eligible to receive unemployment benefits; however, each state administers a separate unemployment benefits program within the guidelines of the federal law. You should review both the federal law and your state laws.

No. Being arrested does not mean the person is guilty. An employer may, however, ask about convictions. As a reminder, all interview questions should be job-related.

No or the exempt status of the employee will be lost. If an employer has a vacation policy, the employer may deduct TIME from the exempt employee’s unused portion but the employee still must be paid his/her earned wages at the next regularly scheduled pay period. Check your company’s vacation policy to see how unpaid time off is treated. Generally speaking, where an employee has no vacation time left and so now needs to take unpaid time off for personal reasons (other than sickness or disability), the employer can only dock the pay of an exempt employee where the time off is taken in a FULL-DAY increment.

To summarize, where the personal reason is not due to sickness or disability and management has approved the unpaid time off, the exempt employee must take a full day off (typically 8 hours) in order for the employer to dock their pay 8 hours. Keep in mind that if the reason IS due to sickness or disability and the exempt employee needs unpaid time off, the employer cannot dock the wages, even for a full day.

First and foremost, any injured worker should receive immediate care by a medical provider. Then, the workplace accident should be internally investigated to identify what caused the accident and what should be changed to prevent future accidents. That said, an employer should always obtain a detailed, written release from the doctor before returning any employee to work. Usually, it is as simple as that. If the doctor’s release includes work restrictions, however, the employer should offer the employee a modified work assignment that accommodates the restrictions, indicating that the employee will perform the modified duties until a release to full duty is received by the attending physician.

It should be specific, signed and dated by all parties. Giving an employee light duty is a positive reinforcement to return the worker to his/her pre-injury position while balancing the need for medical follow-up visits. Every employer should have a Return to Work program. Workers’ Compensation laws vary by state so make sure you are familiar with your state’s requirements.

Yes. Because benefits must be offered to all employees in the same class or structure, an employer should keep written records that benefits were, in fact, offered. The best way to show this is by documenting the employee either accepted or declined the benefit. Your benefits applications should provide a checkbox for the declination and the employee should sign and date the document. If no checkbox is provided on the application, ask your benefits representative to provide one for you.

Hardship withdrawals should be used for an immediate financial need and are only available after all other resources, including plan loans and in-service distributions, have been exhausted. Qualifying events for hardship withdrawals may vary by plan. Therefore, you should refer to your Summary Plan Description; however, some reasons may include:

• Non-reimbursed medical expenses
• Purchase of a primary residence (not including mortgage payments)
• Expenses to prevent eviction or foreclosure
• Education expenses (post high-school) of employee or dependent
• Funeral or burial expenses of spouse, parent, child, or other dependent
• Expenses for the repair of damage to principle residence that would qualify for the casualty deduction under IRC Sec. 165

Qualifying events may vary according to health insurance carriers and plans. You should check your company's specific plan to see what applies to you. That said, following are examples of typical qualifying events:

• Divorce or Legal Separation
• Marriage (could also include common-law marriage)
• Domestic Partnership
• Birth or Adoption of a Child
• Loss of eligibility by an enrolled dependent who is a child
• Military Leave
• Court Request (such as garnishment)
• Termination of Employment; whether voluntary or involuntary
• Retirement
• Death

As long as deductions are required by law such as payroll taxes, and/or are voluntary by the employee such as benefits and charitable donations, deductions may take an employee below minimum wage. However, for such voluntary deductions to be lawful, state laws may vary. For example, some states require employers to obtain the employee's written consent. Consider the following:

Texas law regarding deductions REQUIRES one of three conditions BEFORE a deduction may occur:

• ordered to do so by a court
• authorized to do so by state or federal law
• authorized in writing by the employee

You should also be aware of federal law concerning deductions. For example, under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), the following deductions cannot take an employee below the minimum wage rate:

• Tardiness
• Uniforms; also keep in mind the following: "The Wage and Hour Division assumes that employees spend one hour a week cleaning their uniforms. Thus, for a minimum wage rate employee, the employer would owe the worker one additional hour's pay" -www.hranswersnow.com
• Losses to the company such as spills, breakage, bad checks, cash register shortages or, as in some cases, the company deductible for accidents in company vehicles

Here are some other tips to keep in mind regarding FLSA:

• Garnishments have special rules
• Meals and Lodging deductions can reduce an employee to below minimum wage
• Correcting payroll overpayments can reduce an employee to below minimum wage on the next pay cycle but the employer should use caution that such an act will not cause financial hardship to the employee
• Kickbacks are unlawful meaning an employer cannot pay the employee's wages and then ask the employee to turn around and write a check back to them (i.e. "payment plans" with employees should be avoided)

No. A terminated employee must be given his/her final paycheck according to state law. Some states require final paychecks to be distributed by the next regularly scheduled pay period while others require the final paycheck to be given within 24 hours of the time of termination. State laws also vary on when a final paycheck must be given to a departing employee depending on whether the termination was voluntary or involuntary. You can see how important it is to become familiar with your state’s laws. This doesn’t mean an employer cannot make deductions from the employee’s final paycheck AS LONG AS any such deductions meet the guidelines of federal and state laws.