Practical HR Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
Despite your best intentions to meet the requirements of HIPAA regulations, your employees may still feel that your workplace wellness activities – such as health risk assessments, drug screenings and no-smoking discounts – violate their privacy rights. How do you stay in compliance with the Health Information Privacy portion of the Health Insurance Portability and […]
401(k) Fee Disclosures Type 1: Service Provider Disclosures Service provider disclosures are the first of two types of 401(k) fee disclosures covered by the regulations. Downs gave us further details, explaining that “the compliance date for the service provider fees is July 1, 2012. A service provider . . . has to provide to a […]
One of your employees is injured on the job and receives a 100 percent total permanent disability rating in a workers’ compensation proceeding. If he asks to return to work, can you turn him away without running afoul of California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA)?
Sales Compensation Strategy Step 1: Define Sales Goals and Objectives In this step, Schum advised, you must begin by defining “what is important for the year – either margins, profits, [or] market share – and then making sure that those specific tactical items will be consistent with the compensation philosophy that the organization has as […]
By Keri Bennett Employers everywhere often wonder when an employee’s “innocent” or no-fault absences reach a level that warrants termination. Can these employees ever be fired? Yes, is the answer from one New Brunswick labor arbitrator in Canadian Union of Public Employees, Local 1252 and Vitalité Health Network. Facts A nurse at a hospital in […]
Potential violence is easy to ignore, and there’s no law requiring you to have policy or a program; however, the threats—physical, mental, and financial—are very real. Consider the following: Ours is a violent society and some of that violence finds its way into the workplace. One sixth of violent crimes occur in the workplace—nearly 2 […]
Employers and plan administrators that find the over-the-counter drug rules put in place by the health care reform law to be onerous may have relief, if the Ways and Means Committee has its way. The committee on May 31 in a 24-9 vote ordered H.R. 5842, the Restoring Access to Medication Act, reported to the […]
It’s time for BLR and HRHero’s annual Pay Budget Survey. What’s happening with salary increases and bonuses in 2012 and 2013? How do your plans compare to those of your competitors? Let’s find out. By sharing your insight, opinions, and experience, you can help highlight trends and define benchmarks — by industry, geographic location, and […]
ERISA can be the key to upholding benefit decisions based on plan language before money is paid, but it may be far less helpful once overpaid money goes out the door, particularly when the plan is indemnity-based with no provider contracts. This situation became evident in Int’l Longshore & Warehouse Union v. Sharp Surgery Center, […]
By Kathy Carlson A federal appeals court in Massachusetts ruled Thursday that the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) is unconstitutional because it prevents same-sex married couples from receiving benefits available to heterosexual married couples. The U.S. 1st Circuit Court of Appeals also ruled that in enacting DOMA, the federal government was intruding into domestic […]