Archives

Urban Institute Criticizes Use of Stop-Loss Insurance by Small Employers

If small companies self-insure their health plans and in doing so can get stop-loss coverage with very low attachment points, they could siphon healthy lives away from the new insurance market designed by health reform to insure millions of new lives, the Urban Institute warned in a April 2013 report. The Institute explained that low […]

Reward Top Performers with Reverse Robin Hood Approach

Rob from the poor, give to the rich, says consultant Joseph DiMisa, and you can structure your incentive program so it really rewards top performers. You have to lower incentive payments to poor performers to liberate funds to give bigger rewards to your top performers, says DiMisa. Rewarding performance is the first of his Incentive […]

Workers’ Compensation: Q&A on Return to Work Scenarios

Returning employees to work after an injury can raise questions from both the employee and the employer. Must you keep someone on staff who is restricted to part-time hours (when the position needs to be full-time)? If an employee comes back to work without restrictions but still requests a reduced time schedule, how should you […]

Training and Development in 2013–What’s Really Happening?

Please participate in our brief survey and see how what you are doing stacks up against what other successful companies are doing. We’ll get answers to these questions and more: How often do your employees receive training? What kind of training is conducted? What specific topics are covered in employee training? Supervisor training? Which training […]

Social Media–Badmouthing, NLRB, Privacy

The eight tentacles come from a recent BLR/HRHero-sponsored webinar featuring Patricia Trainor, JD, and Stephen Bruce, PhD. Attorney Trainor is BLR’s Senior Managing Editor, HR; Bruce is editor of the HR Daily Advisor.  [Go here for tentacles 1 to 4.] Tentacle #5—Inappropriate/ Negative Actions Toward the Employer Release of “trade secrets” and other proprietary data […]

Coaching Can Be Effective—But There Are Challenges

In a recent survey of 230 organizations by AMA Enterprise, a division of the American Management Association (www.amnet.org) that offers advisory services and tailored learning programs, executive coaching programs are seen as being “very effective” by 26% of companies offering such programs and “somewhat effective” by 62% of companies. In addition, 12% reported that their […]

Post-Offer Activities: Crucial Last Steps of Hiring an Employee

Hiring an employee entails more than just selecting the right candidate. A sound, well-planned hiring process is one that not only finds top candidates, but also effectively integrates, trains, and on-boards them so they’ll stick around for the long haul. It also ensures that internal candidates are treated properly. Post-Offer Activities: The Oft-Forgotten Crucial Last […]

How do you make people feel?

by Dan Oswald I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel. —Maya Angelou On Saturday, the University of Nebraska Cornhuskers football team held its annual Red-White Spring Game. With time for just one final play, Jack Hoffman walked […]

FMLA Leave 101: Use of Return-to-Work Status Reports

Monitoring employees on FMLA leave is one of the many obligations of employers administering FMLA leave of absence for employees. In fact, while the employee is out, employers have several things to monitor: The total amount of leave used and how much is remaining in the leave year. The use of paid leave, which can […]