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Exec Rewards: Use Total Comp or Miss by a Mile

Base executive pay decisions on total direct compensation and you are likely to “miss the market by a mile,” says consultant Kurt Fichthorn. To understand the importance of a total remuneration perspective, look at this table that reflects information about your CEO’s compensation, says Fichthorn, vice president in the Philadelphia office of Hay Group. CEO […]

Employers Have Opportunity to Boost Retirement Savings With Auto-escalation

Employers could use auto-escalation as a way to encourage 401(k) participants to increase their contributions and reduce the number of employees missing out on matching contributions from the plan sponsor. That’s the finding by WorldatWork and the American Benefits Institute, which said that nearly a third of U.S. retirement plan sponsors they surveyed think more […]

How the Wizard of Oz Can Help Us Be Better Managers

Here’s what Oswald said: Recently, an adaptation of The Wizard of Oz was released. If you’re like me, you grew up watching the 1939 classic. The new film got me thinking about those wonderful characters created by L. Frank Baum. There’s the Cowardly Lion, the Scarecrow, the Tin Man, and, of course, Dorothy. Each one […]

Court Rejects EEOC Guidance on Employee Alcohol Testing

An employer’s random alcohol testing of probationary employees did not violate the Americans with Disabilities Act, despite federal agency guidance to the contrary, a federal district court has ruled (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. United States Steel Corp., No. 10–12 (W.D. Penn. Feb. 20, 2013)). EEOC sued on behalf of a class of employees, arguing […]

Deja vu

Litigation Value: Nothing for Pam, but I’m sure the Philly real estate employees have plenty of gripes. Last night’s episode of “The Office” was a repeat of “Move On: Part I,” which we covered in our post “Breaking Up Is Hard To Do.” There were plenty of shenanigans in Scranton during that episode, so we […]

The Role Training Can Play in Narrowing the Skills Gap

Recent research from Cornerstone OnDemand (www.csod.com) identified three concerns related to training with which nearly every company grapples. The first concern is an increasing absence of ongoing training and development. Only 32 percent of employed American adults in the survey have received training and development to boost job performance in the past 6 months. The […]

IRS issues guidance on ACA’s ‘play or pay’ rules

by Michael Bindner The IRS has issued Notice 2012-58, which describes safe-harbor methods employers may use to determine which employees are “full-time” workers for purposes of the “shared responsibility” penalty of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), which is often referred to as Obamacare. Notice 2012-59, issued by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) and the […]

How the Wizard of Oz Can Help Us Be Better Managers

What can managers learn from the well-known characters in the Wizard of Oz? A lot, says business and leadership blogger Dan Oswald, who is CEO of BLR®. In a recent edition of The Oswald Letter, he explained how the Wizard of Oz can help us to be better managers. Here’s what Oswald said: Recently, an […]

‘Have Your Employees’ Backs’ on Back Safety Training

Preventing back injuries in your workplace is one of the most effective cost-control and productivity-enhancing efforts you can undertake. Training workers in back safety is an important part of that effort. Preventing back injuries To avoid injuring your back in the first place, use these back safety techniques: Adjust your workstation to fit. If your […]

California workers’ compensation reform: SB 863 brings permanent disability changes

Previous workers’ compensation laws in California created a situation where the costs associated with providing medical treatment and benefits to injured workers and administering workers’ compensation claims had begun to rise significantly. If costs were permitted to continue to rise, employers would be faced with increases in their workers’ compensation insurance rates, which would add […]