Archives

Appellate Court Affirms That Divorce Retirement Assets Aren’t Protected

A federal appeals court upheld an earlier ruling that 401(k) plan and individual retirement account (IRA) assets acquired by an ex-spouse in a divorce proceeding aren’t retirement funds protected by federal law from bankruptcy creditors. The case is Brian A. Lerbakken, Debtor-Appellant v. Sieloff and Associates, No. 18-6018 (Bankr. 8th Cir., Oct. 16, 2018).

Finding Your Way in Today’s Job Market: Defining Your Culture

We have heard from countless companies that they are leaving millions of dollars in new business on the table. Despite nearly unprecedented new business opportunities, there is a shortage of skills in the labor market that hinders many companies’ ability to hire and retain the employees they need to convert opportunity to business.

NLRB

What HR Needs to Know About Working with Labor Unions

According to the Society for Human Resource Management, the U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics reported that participation in labor unions was down in 2016, especially in the private sector. And the cause for this is due to the ever-increasing responsiveness of human resource (HR) professionals and the positive employee relations they inspire in the […]

STEM Careers Sought by the Class of 2021

There’s no time like the present to start recruiting college graduates. While unemployment remains low, the number of applicants for many jobs across the country continues to increase. According to recruiting software and talent acquisition solutions provider, Oleeo, some companies are attracting up to 90,000 college graduate applications across several different program types (intern, co-op, […]

harassment

Stats About Sexual Harassment in the Workplace You Can’t Ignore

In the past year or so, in the wake of the #MeToo and #TimesUp movements, many organizations have been actively seeking ways to combat sexual harassment in the workplace. And over the past decade or so, statistics have revealed how deep-seated and pervasive sexual harassment is inside the workplace, regardless of one’s industry or profession.

pets

Pros and Cons of Allowing Employees to Bring Pets to Work

According to the American Kennel Club, about 68% of households in the United States own a pet, with 60.2 million of those pets being dogs. And one poll conducted by the American Pet Products Manufacturers Association revealed that around 17% of working Americans reported that their company permits pets at work. Some of the more […]

PBGC Makes Scheduled Premium Increase for 2019, Raises Guarantee Limits 3.5% for New Year

The U.S. Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. (PBGC) on October 19 announced that its premiums for single-employer defined benefit (DB) retirement plans will increase to $80 in 2019, from $74 in 2018. This is the last of the scheduled annual flat per-participant increases in single-employer DB plan premiums brought about by the Bipartisan Budget Act (BBA) […]

disengaged

Five Drivers of Employee Engagement, and How Crowdsourced Innovation Can Help

Disengaged employees are costly. A recent Deloitte report notes that organizations spend over $100 billion annually to improve employee engagement. Despite that, 87% of employees remain disengaged and cost U.S. companies $450 billion to $550 billion per year in lost productivity, according to Gallup.