A lawsuit against the owner of the restaurant chain now claims that, in addition to not paying employees for required work-related hours, the company also failed to meet minimum wage and overtime pay standards set by state and federal law.

So if weve all staked our claim in the employee benefits business, whether it's providing them, selling them or writing about them. What happens if employees want something that cant be bought or sold?

The drain on company cash is easing after rising rates and surging stock prices helped increase the pension funding levels to 93 percent last year for 418 large companies with U.S. plans.