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ADAAA: Skip Step of Determining Disability—Go to Accomodation

In yesterday’s Advisor, panelists at BLR’s Advanced Employment Issues Symposium (AEIS) in Nashville warned of newly aggressive moves by the NLRB and unions; today, panelists take on ADA for 2012, plus an introduction to the all=HR-in-one website, HR.BLR.com. Although the new regs issued in March 2011 do cover a lot of ground with regard to […]

If There’s a Sneaky Way Around a Tech Policy, Your Employees Will Find It

Make sure your employees know the “whys” behind your tech policies. Otherwise, they’ll find ways to work around them — and may even bring your system down in the process. According to Lisa Guerin, author of Smart Policies for Workplace Technologies, you must explain the policies you write about technology. If your employees don’t see […]

Looking to 2012—Good News and Bad News on the HR Front

Get ready now for an aggressive NLRB; meanwhile, get your ADA house in order, say panelists at BLR’s Advanced Employment Issues Symposium (AEIS) in Nashville. Good news? It’s not too late to act. Under proposed NLRB rule changes, employers will have less of a chance to make their cases for staying union free, says Al […]

DOL Clarifies Mental Health Parity’s Effect on Pre-Authorization

The effect of the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA) on prior authorization practices and other “nonquantitative treatment limitations” was clarified Nov. 17 in guidance from the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL). The MHPAEA interim final rules issued in February 2010 imposed a detailed numerical formula for determining whether quantitative limits such as copayments […]

Bill Would Require Minimum Wage in Sheltered Workshops

For more than 70 years, the Fair Labor Standards Act has allowed employers to pay some workers with physical or mental impairments less than the federal minimum wage. H.R. 3086, introduced by Cliff Stearns (R-Fla.), Tim Bishop (D-N.Y.) and Gregg Harper (R-Mo.) earlier this fall, would change that. HR 3086 would phase out special wage […]

SPIFFs Turbo-Charge Your Salespeople? Experts Say ‘Yes”

Colletti is Managing partner of consulting firm Colletti-Fiss, LLC; Fiss is a partner. They shared their tips at the WorldatWork’s Total Rewards Conference and Exhibition, held recently in San Diego. What’s a SPIFF? Several phrases have been proposed as possible origins of the acronym SPIFF (e.g., “Sales Performance Incentive Fund,” and “Special Pay Incentives For […]

Avoid Common Electronic Recordkeeping Missteps

In yesterday’s CED, we covered issues surrounding electronic recordkeeping. Today, more principles — plus a valuable recordkeeping desk reference, specifically for California employers. Electronic recordkeeping is wonderful in many ways but the pitfalls are varied and deep, as we saw in yesterday’s issue. To skirt those danger zones, here are more of the principles of […]

Sometime You’ve Gotta Use the “F” Word

Recently, I was intrigued by a Wall Street Journal article — “A Four-Letter Word Schools Won’t Use.” It said that colleges absolutely refuse to use the “F” word. Yes, it’s true. Schools avoid using the word “FIRE” at all costs. According to the article, the writer analyzed 50 recent news releases announcing coaching changes in […]