Is Your Retirement Plan Ready for a DOL Investigation?
A U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) investigation of an employer-sponsored retirement plan may originate in a variety of ways.
Author: Arris Reddick Murphy, Esq., Contributing Editor
Wannacry: A Shot Across the Bow
Although information security and cyber attacks seem to be a daily headline, several events and trends recently collided to produce some headlines with extra heat: WANNACRY RANSOMWARE RUNS RAMPANT! Even in a world used to fast-moving technology, the speed of Wannacry’s spread, and the high-profile nature of its victims, took many by surprise.
Promotions, New Supervisors Not ADA Accommodations, Courts Say
While the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires a wide array of accommodations for workers with disabilities, there are a few things that generally are not required because they fail the law’s “reasonableness” test. Among those are a promotion and a new supervisor.
Summer Hiring: 2 in 5 Employers Expecting to Recruit Seasonal Help
The summer job market is upon us and with good news—companies are stepping up their summer hiring. Forty-one percent of employers plan to hire seasonal workers for the summer, a significant jump from 29% last year. Of those who are hiring summer workers, 34% are hiring a friend, 30% a family member, and 19% their […]
5 Tips for Removing Unconscious Bias Towards Female Assignees
Is unconscious bias impacting international assignment opportunities in your organization? We all have unconscious biases in one form or another—they are impossible to consistently avoid.
No Job Protection for Employee Who Took 7 Weeks’ Leave During Probationary Period
An employee who accrued more than 7 weeks’ worth of unscheduled absences during her 50-week probationary period was not entitled to job protection under federal disability law, an appeals court has ruled.
Are There Any More Jobs Left … for Humans?
Automation is becoming a major trend in the HR world, with some researchers claiming HR will be fully automated in 5 years, and others claiming a majority of HR professionals will be automating tasks as early as 2019. If these estimates are correct, will the human in Human Resources be out of a job in […]
FMLA: How to Verify That Employees Are Truly ‘Caring For’ Family Members
Many employers are seeing an increase in employees requesting time off to care for their aging parents. Because that trend is likely to continue, you should be prepared to manage such requests, particularly when the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) applies.
Out to Lunch? Maybe Not, in Massachusetts . . .
Most Massachusetts employers are required by law to provide “meal breaks” for their employees. However, in many industries, it isn’t always feasible for employees to leave the premises during lunch or even to stop working while they’re eating. If employees work through their meal breaks, must they be paid for that time? What if they […]
IRS Warns Against Using Wellness Incentives to Skirt Employment Taxes
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is seeking to discourage arrangements in which employees can obtain large wellness incentive payments in exchange for a relatively minor after-tax contribution. Contrary to their promoters’ claims, these setups cannot enable employers to finance wellness incentives solely by reducing their employment tax liability, the IRS warned.