Practical HR Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
There are few times in business as treacherous as the first few months for new supervisors. They have new-found power and are eager to do the right thing—but they don’t know what it is. Pity the new supervisor. Sometimes they do the wrong thing, because they think they have to do something, and sometimes they […]
We’re a small company and we’ve been fairly lenient with rest breaks. We assumed that employees would take a 10-minute rest break in the morning and again in the afternoon, but we haven’t policed exactly how long people take their breaks. We’ve also just let smokers step outside for cigarette breaks without tracking how often […]
Many of our employees are commercial truck drivers whose hours are regulated under CPUC and DOT rules. Do we need to provide meal breaks or make sure that these employees take meal breaks? CPUC and DOT rules regulate the number of hours that a driver can work per day, but are we still bound by […]
As of press time, the U.S. Supreme Court was set to rule on a case that could redefine the claims and remedies allowed under the federal Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA). The lawsuit arose after a 401(k) plan participant asked the plan administrator, which was his employer, to change his elections. The participant claimed […]
The IRS recently issued Notice 2007-100, which gives employers an opportunity to correct unintentional operational mistakes concerning nonqualified deferred compensation plans. Internal Revenue Code Section 409A, which covers these plans, specifies the manner in which they must be reported to avoid premature taxation. The notice gives employers the opportunity to self-correct unintentional operational errors—the failure […]
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has issued a proposed rule that would force 401(k) plan administrators to report compensation they derive directly and indirectly from their services. In addition, the rule would require plan administrators to disclose in writing potential conflicts of interest to plan fiduciaries, namely employers. The regulation’s main purpose is to […]
A new U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) rule gives employers some relief regarding their ability to reduce or eliminate retirees’ healthcare benefits once they become eligible for Medicare. Such a reduction or elimination will not violate the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), the federal statute that prohibits age-based discrimination, the new rule states. […]
A waiting-time penalty is assessed when an employer willfully fails to pay a worker the compensation he or she is entitled to on termination of employment. A California appeals court recently ruled that when a worker seeks waiting-time penalties but not unpaid final wages, his or her claim is subject to a one-year statute of […]