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Defined Contribution Plans: Socially Responsible Investment Options on the Rise

By 2010, 60 percent of defined contribution plans will offer a socially responsible investment (SRI) option, according to a study released this past summer by Mercer Investment Consulting, a global provider of HR and related financial advice and services, in conjunction with the Social Investment Forum, a nonprofit organization that promotes responsible investing. Nineteen percent […]

Executive Compensation: Deferred Compensation Plans May No Longer Be a Given

Of course you offer an executive deferred compensation plan; it’s a given, right? Both the executives you’re trying to recruit and your own staff expect you to have one. What’s more, if you’re competing for talent with the company across town and it has a deferred comp plan, you’d better have one, too. And what […]

May I Have the Next Envelope Please?

Continuing in the spirit of the awards season, my next category is “Most Ineffective HR Moment.” And the nominees are: When human resources manager Toby told Dwight that his grievances were sent to Dundler Mifflin’s corporate office in New York while they were actually thrown into a box underneath Toby’s desk. When Toby elects to […]

Retirement Plans: Should Employers Advise Their Workers on 401(k) Investment Options?

With the enactment of the Pension Protection Act of 2006 (PPA), plan sponsors were given a freedom they didn’t have before. The legislation, which William Arnone of Ernst & Young calls “the most far-reaching legislation impacting benefits since ERISA,” enables plan sponsors to offer employees investment advice without exposing themselves to liability for the outcome […]

Hours of Service Limits Retained for Truckers

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has issued an interim final rule that will continue to limit truckers to driving only 11 hours within a 14-hour duty period, after which they must go off duty for at least 10 hours. The interim rule was issued in response to a recent federal appeals court decision […]

CVS Pharmacy Settles Wage-Hour Charges

CVS Pharmacy, Inc., has agreed to pay $226,598 in penalties and $38,151 in back wages to settle U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) allegations that the company violated wage and youth labor provisions of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The DOL says an investigation revealed that 78 minors at CVS stores in the Northeast […]