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.

When Opportunity Knocks, Will You Open the Door?

Oswald, CEO of BLR, offered these thoughts on Lincoln, leadership, and opportunity in a recent edition of The Oswald Letter: It’s Lincoln’s second item—opportunities will present themselves—that I believe is most overlooked by those supposedly seeking opportunity. Often we are looking so hard for a certain opportunity or for opportunity to look a specific way […]

Final Wellness Rule: Employers Must Offer Choices Among Health Goals, If Rewards Are Offered

Federal agencies just issued new final rules for contingency-based wellness program goals under health reform. If employers offer to give a reward (such as discounted health insurance premiums) to workers who accomplish some kind of biometric goal (a contingency standard), then employers must have a standing “reasonable alternative” to the contingency-based standard, government officials told […]

Big Data Blasts Some Long-Held Beliefs

What myths are being exposed by big data? According to a recent article in The Economist, “number-crunching has uncovered some surprising correlations.” For example, Evolv, a company that works with big data, found that: Employees who, when filling out their online applications, used a browser that didn’t come standard on their computer (software they had […]

Competing Compensation Goals? Matrix Them

Matrices for Sales Comp Use a matrix when sales people have concurrent accountability for two competing measures, says Cichelli, who is senior vice president at the Alexander Group. His remarks came at the WorldatWork Total Rewards 3013 Conference and Exhibition held recently in Philadelphia. The payout matrix provides improved payout as performance on both measures […]

Hurdles, Modifiers, Matrices—3 Ways to Link Sales and Strategy

Cichelli, who is senior vice president of the Alexander Group, offered his tips at WorldatWork’s Total Rewards 2013 Conference and Exhibition, held recently in Philadelphia. Hurdle The hurdle is a prerequirement measure, says Cichelli; that is, the first measure must be accomplished before favorable treatment of a second measure can occur. The employer establishes minimal […]

Stop-loss Restrictions Advance in Several States

Fast-moving events have advanced state-level proposals aimed at regulating stop-loss, which would make it more expensive for small employers to self-insure health benefits, and put power over self-funding in the hands of state insurance commissioners. Utah law now requires stop-loss insurers to cover incurred and unpaid claims if a small employer plan terminates — an unprecedented requirement. […]

Employer Says Gross Misconduct Means No COBRA Coverage for Ex-employee

An employer provided enough evidence raising questions of a former employee’s possible gross misconduct to ward off her summary judgment motion regarding a COBRA notice claim. The employer noted the individual had committed gross misconduct by quitting the job without notice, refusing to follow supervisor instructions and initially lying about why she left work early […]

The 5 Questions that Identify Essential Functions

In fact, we turned to SmartJobs for the five questions that can help you decide whether a function is an essential function: 1. Does the position exist specifically to perform this function? For example, when a person is hired to proofread legal documents, the ability to proofread is an essential function. Or, for example, a […]

Does the ADA Require Job Descriptions? No, But …

If you do have job descriptions, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has said that it will review or consider them, as well as other relevant information, when determining essential functions. Therefore, it is important to keep job descriptions current. Claiming later that some function not listed on the description is a task essential to […]

49ers Make Long-Term Investment in Character, Forgo Short-Term Gains

Oswald, CEO of BLR®, offered these thoughts on character (and a recent 49er’s draft decision) in a recent edition of The Oswald Letter: A few weeks ago, the San Francisco 49ers, with the 131st pick in the NFL draft, chose Marcus Lattimore, a running back out of the University of South Carolina. Considered by many […]