Blog posts by
Beth Dean

Ah, the holiday season—a time for joy, festivities, and the age-old puzzle of compensating your employees. Let’s demystify the rules of holiday pay for both our hourly (nonexempt) and salaried (exempt) workers. For the Hourly Heroes Picture your business decked out in holiday cheer, but your nonexempt employees are sipping cocoa at home. Under the […]

Giving Tuesday = Receiving Tuesday Nextep was excited to be one of the many organizations recognizing Giving Tuesday,  with our teams of employees generously giving back to the community all season long.  The Giving Tuesday network collaborates year-round to inspire generosity around the world, with a common mission to build a world where generosity is […]

Keep Your Party Pants Professional As the year ends, and you’ve achieved feats at work that deserve a standing ovation, the holiday office party is your well-earned, much-awaited reward.  But beware! When the festive spirit meets the allure of a bottomless drink supply, things can take a wild turn, leaving you nursing a hangover, regret, […]

Time to mark your calendars! Here are key bank and Nextep holiday closure dates for 2024.  If Nextep is closed on a day that banks are usually open, such as the day after Thanksgiving, no need to stress! If banks are open, we can still process your payroll for that day. However, if banks are […]

We’ve talked recently about the importance of sustainability in business. Let’s take it a step further and look at ESG, or Environmental, Social, and Governance.  The Impact of ESG on Companies Environmental (E) Companies that focus on their environmental impact are making a positive change. They reduce their carbon footprint, use clean energy, and find […]

Sustainable business isn’t just for hippies! As we discussed in our previous article, sustainability is increasingly important to today’s business. It is a crucial and relevant issue that affects everyone and every organization, regardless of industry or beliefs. Sustainability involves taking a long-term, holistic view of how we interact with the environment and our communities, […]

At Nextep, we aim to stay informed about CEO concerns in order to better help with problem-solving. We were surprised to learn that sustainability has become a top concern. The statistics bring CEO concerns to light: A Gartner survey found that CEO concern about sustainability has increased 292% from their 2021-22 survey. In a survey […]

It’s not the most savory of topics, but still merits discussion. All of your employees will need to use the bathroom during work. Here’s a potty primer, if you will. Disability and Bathrooms The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) has clear regulations on bathroom accessibility in the workplace. Much of the guidance revolves around making […]

We’ve reported at length about preventing discrimination in the workplace. But let’s take a step back now and brush up on Title VII, the sweeping regulation that started it all.  Title VII of the Civil Rights Act forbids discrimination in any aspect of employment, including hiring, firing, pay, job assignments, promotions, layoff, training, fringe benefits, […]

Illinois to Join in on Pay Transparency As we recently reported, pay transparency laws are gaining momentum across the United States. Now, they have another state to add to the roster.  Illinois recently passed an amendment to the Illinois Equal Pay Act that will require employers to show pay and benefits information when posting a […]

Time to check your handbook again for NLRB compliance The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has been busy shaping employee handbooks and workplace policies. With the recent Stericycle Inc. decision, the NLRB has introduced a new legal standard for evaluating employer work rules under Section 8(a)(1) of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA).  Understanding the […]

Spoiler Alert: Yes We frequently see a question posed to HR pros: “Do I have to pay my employee if…?” We’ll go ahead and give you a major hint at the outset. In many of the scenarios we see, the answer is yes, you do have to pay your employee. Here are a few scenarios. […]