#employee-benefits
Discover employee benefit options to attract talent and reduce turnover in small businesses
Federal law only requires final wages by the next regular payday, but states add same-day deadlines and penalties — California's daily-wage meter up to 30 days, Massachusetts treble damages, Colorado's 2x/$1,000 floor — plus mandatory vacation payout in a handful of states.
OBBBA Section 70113 permanently repealed the moving expense deduction and the tax-free employer reimbursement for tax years beginning after December 31, 2025 — every relocation dollar, including payments made directly to vendors, is now supplemental wages, with exceptions only for active-duty military PCS moves and intelligence community personnel.
Bringing staff back on-site changes payroll tax, benefits, and deductions at once. For 2026 the Section 132(f) exclusions are $340/month each for transit/vanpool and qualified parking, saving employers about 7.65% of every pre-tax dollar; W-2 employees can no longer deduct home-office costs, so route equipment through an accountable plan instead.
For 2026 the Section 129 dependent care exclusion rises from $5,000 to $7,500 and Section 127 student loan repayment becomes permanent, so an employer can move up to $12,750 per employee outside wages. This guide covers the written-plan and nondiscrimination rules, which W-2 boxes each benefit lands in — all dependent care in Box 10, excludable educational assistance nowhere — and the seven errors that turn a tax-free benefit into taxable wages.
Employers can contribute up to $2,500 per employee per year to a child's Trump Account tax-free and report it in W-2 Box 12 under the new Code TA, debuting on 2026 forms. This guide covers the written Section 128 plan, the per-employee (not per-child) cap, the $5,000 aggregate per-child limit, cafeteria-plan salary reductions for dependents only, Section 129-style nondiscrimination testing, and the payroll and account-verification controls that keep the benefit out of taxable wages.
2026 has 27 biweekly paydays for many employers, adding about 3.85% to annual salaried payroll cost. Here is how to choose between dividing salary by 27 and paying the extra check, how to handle health, 401(k) and HSA deductions in the extra period, and what to budget for employer taxes at the $184,500 Social Security wage base.
Target-date funds hold about $4.9 trillion and are the default in 99% of the auto-enrollment 401(k) plans Vanguard tracks. Here is how glide paths, "to" versus "through" designs, and expense ratios shape your retirement balance, plus a 15-minute checkup for savers and the fiduciary duties for owners who sponsor a plan.
Since 2023 plan years only 401(k) participants with account balances count toward the 100-participant large-plan line, so a 60-employee company can owe an $8,000 to $12,000 IQPA audit with its Form 5500. This guide covers the day-one count, how the 80-120 rule defers the audit, the July 31 and October 15 deadlines, and a first-audit preparation checklist.
Insurers have filed a median 14% small-group premium increase for 2027, following an 11% rise for 2026, while Mercer projects employer health costs up 8.2% per employee even after cost controls. This guide explains what is driving the increases, how to model the renewal in per-employee-per-month terms, and five levers (competitive bids, level-funded and ICHRA/CHOICE comparisons, plan redesign, defined contributions, and early communication) that can shrink the hit before open enrollment.
USERRA covers every US employer with no headcount minimum. When an employee is called to military service, you must reemploy them promptly at the "escalator" position they would have reached, continue health coverage for up to 24 months, credit seniority and pension benefits as if they never left, and honor return deadlines of 14 or 90 days depending on service length. This guide lays out the five reemployment conditions, the anti-discrimination rules, what federal law does not require, and a before-during-after bookkeeping checklist for small employers.
When an employee quits before the employer match vests, the unvested dollars land in the plan's forfeiture account. The IRS's proposed rule would give sponsors 12 months after the plan year closes to use them — on plan expenses, on reducing future employer contributions, or by reallocating to participants — and stale multi-year suspense balances are already a standard audit finding.
Federal law caps the business-gift deduction at $25 per recipient per year — a limit unchanged since 1962 — while incidental shipping, wrapping, and $4-or-less branded items sit outside it. Employee gifts follow different rules: gift cards and cash equivalents are always taxable wages, and only small, infrequent tangible items qualify as de minimis fringe benefits.
