Practical HR Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
Four umpires who worked the 2011 U.S. Open Tennis Championship weren’t happy with the tournament’s outcome. It’s nothing personal against this year’s champions Samantha Stosur and Novak Djokovic, but rather the U.S. Tennis Association (USTA), who the umps say should have paid them overtime. The umpires say the Open regularly requires working more than 40 […]
Alleging that a supervisor exacerbated an employee’s pre-existing health condition is not a valid theory of liability under the Family and Medical Leave Act, the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled. The issue of serious health conditions covered by the FMLA causes human resources professionals some confusion. But as the 7th Circuit’s decision in […]
Employers worried that they may have misclassified independent contractors may find relief in a new program from the IRS. The Voluntary Classification Settlement Program (VCSP) was announced September 21 and offers employers the opportunity to get into compliance by making a minimal payment covering past payroll tax obligations rather than waiting for an IRS audit. […]
It used to be the ’60 Minutes Rule,” but lawsuit avoidance expert Hunter Lott now encounters people who say 60 Minutes, what’s that? So he advocates the ‘YouTube Rule”—don’t do anything in the office, he says, that you wouldn’t want to see on YouTube. Lott, who is a popular speaker and consultant and owner of […]
While the lack of a specific rule doesn’t mean you can’t discipline an employee for misconduct, the existence of a rule or standard can make your life a lot easier.
Health care reform may be responsible for a rise in partisan bickering, but what is also rising is the number of young adults with health insurance — 1 million more since last year, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). In the first quarter of 2011, the percentage of adults between […]
Using independent contractors is a way to avoid paying unemployment, Social Security and Medicare taxes, overtime and benefits. However, if an employer is found liable of misclassifying an employee in tandem with committing wage and hour violations, DOL may fine the employer, and the employer may be assessed back wages and taxes. The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) […]
Most employers these days have some kind of employee handbook. But oftentimes they lapse into an outdated state, or wind up loaded with all sorts of protocols, procedures, and guidelines — some of which have nothing to do with employment issues.
Jan. 1, 2014, sounds far away, but some plan sponsors may be hoping that day never comes. That’s the day the “shared responsibility provisions” of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) kick in; and it’s the time plan sponsors become subject to health reform’s “unaffordable coverage trigger.” Under the law, if an employee’s […]
In yesterday’s Advisor, attorney Mindy Chapman offered her take on e-mail dangers in the workplace. Today, her 10 sins of e-mail writers, plus an introduction to a unique CD collection of pre-written HR policies. Chapman, a popular speaker and consultant and president of Mindy Chapman & Assocates LLC, offered her tips at the recent SHRM […]