Category: Benefits and Compensation

This topic provides guidance on how to handle compensation issues in a way that attracts and retains the best talent and advances the strategic goals of your business. You get news and tips on what’s going on nationally and in the states, and updates on changes in regulations, possible governmental action, and emerging compensation trends.

Basics of Compensation Metrics

“What are compensation metrics? Basically, when we talk about a metric, we’re talking about a measurement. We’re talking about a statistic or a measurement that is intended to assess value and effectiveness.” Terry Pasteris explained in a recent BLR webinar. “So, depending on what aspect of value or effectiveness or what aspect of our program […]

Can You Use Incentive Pay for Nonexempt Employees?

How Can You Use Incentive Pay for Nonexempt Employees? “Pay for performance can apply to all levels of jobs within an organization. Recent studies have shown that organizations are beginning to use more variable compensation (or incentives) as it relates to the proportion of base pay, and they’re marketing that to employees—not only when they’re […]

Talking to Your CFO—Critical Skill

HR tends to avoid CFOs and knows little about them, says consultant Karl J. Ahlrichs, SPHR. CFOs are often reclusive and cautious, but you are not going to be successful if you can’t sell ideas to the CFO. Why is the relationship with the CFO so important? CFOs often have the final approval of HR/compensation […]

FMLA Absences Up, Some Industries Hit Harder Than Others

While leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act can be troublesome for any employer, it is particularly disruptive for manufacturers, call centers and health care organizations whose operations depend on fixed schedules, according to a recent ComPsych Corporation white paper. FMLA absences are on the rise, says FMLA Source, a ComPsych company, and some […]

Employee Pay Deductions: What Can (and Can’t) Be Deducted?

Pay Deductions: What Can and Can’t be Deducted? Q. Is it possible to deduct expenses from an employee for drug screens and physicals if they leave within the 90-day probationary period? A.That is something that is a function of state law, generally. Most state laws say that if an employer is going to require a […]

Stop-loss Insurers Maneuvered out of Navigator Role in Final Reform Rules

Stop-loss insurers for self-funded health plans are among the entities excluded from assisting consumers and small businesses in researching health insurance exchange options under health care reform. Those insurers, as well as individuals and other entities with too close a financial relationship to such insurers, cannot be “Navigators,” according to final rules issued July 17 from the […]

Can You Search Employees’ Lockers, Desks, and Purses

In yesterday’s Advisor, Attorney Jonathan Segal, one of SHRM’s top speakers, offered his tips on privacy in the workplace. Today, his tips on searches, plus an introduction to Sales Compensation: How to Create, Manage, and Grow a Competitive Strategy That Works webinar. Segal made his remarks at SHRM’s Annual Conference and Exhibition, held recently in […]

Healthcare Reform (ACA) Resource Center for Employers

BLR’s Healthcare Reform Resource Center for Employers offers detailed information about the provisions of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and when they take effect, along with the latest and most important news, providing employers with the guidance they need to understand the changes.

Special from Chicago—SHRM Annual Conference and Exhibition – ‘Hey, That Violates My Free Speech Rights!’ (Sorry.)

For companies in the private sector, the employer determines whether there is an expectation of privacy, says Attorney Jonathan Segal, and unwary employers may create the right to privacy if they are not careful. (Government employees generally have a constitutional right to a higher level of privacy than those in the private sector.) Employers can […]

Keeping Your Best Employees: Using Compensation Strategy to Your Advantage

Keeping Your Best Employees: Using Compensation Strategy to Nurture the Keepers In today's market, even if you're not making changes yet, your competitors are already hiring, promoting, providing bigger merit increases, and restoring bonuses. There's less and less barrier and more and more incentive for employees to go somewhere else. "I think now it's incumbent […]