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.

You’re Getting a Raise! DOL Again Looks to Hike FLSA Salary Threshold

In September 2019, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) expanded the Fair Labor Standards Act’s (FLSA) overtime coverage to more than one million workers. In response, employers everywhere readied themselves for a potentially seismic shift. Calls to legal counsel, workforce audits, and wage adjustments ensued to make sure workers were properly classified. Soon, it may […]

Ask the Expert: Voluntary Benefits During Unpaid Leave

In our latest installment of Ask the Expert, brought to you by the team of industry experts at HR Hero®, we look at a recent question from a subscriber regarding the recommended management and payment of voluntary benefits for employees while they are out on unpaid leave. Q: How should employers handle voluntary benefits when employees are […]

All Aboard: You Can’t Change Healthcare Unless Your Members Opt In

Why do half the people who need healthcare opt out, choosing not to utilize their healthcare benefits? It’s the foundational question that, despite recent expansions of employee benefits offerings and the litany of digital health point solutions, continues to frustrate benefits managers and their employers. My career experience with both healthcare provider systems and healthcare […]

Finding the Right Incentives to Stimulate Action

Whether or not someone takes a particular course of action often boils down to a competition between different incentives. When a criminal considers robbing a bank, he or she must weigh the negative incentive of going to prison or getting shot in the attempt against the positive incentive of potentially coming away with a lot […]

United Airlines Pilot’s Sick Leave Claim Ruled Infirm

Employees summoned to military service receive certain job protections under a federal law known as the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA). The law requires employers to provide employees on military leave any seniority-based benefit they would have accrued but for the service. A recent case from the U.S. 7th Circuit Court of […]

Ask the Expert: Paying Exempt Employees Overtime

In our latest installment of Ask the Expert, brought to you by the team of industry experts at HR Hero®, we look at a recent question from a subscriber regarding additional non-exempt compensation for an employee who recently moved into an exempt position. Q: We have a non-exempt employee who recently accepted an exempt position with our […]

Let’s Talk About Grief: Bereavement Policies in Evolving Workplace

Grief and bereavement leave are complex issues for many employers. Your policy may provide only three to five days of leave, while the fallout from the death of a loved one can rarely be encapsulated in such a relatively short time frame. In addition, even before the death occurred, you may have been dealing with […]

employee benefits

Employer Perspective: How Voluntary Benefits Can Help Your Business Compete for Talent

Employers’ goals for voluntary benefits —increasingly a core component of any employer’s benefit package that allows employees to self-select from a menu of offerings, typically at reduced or increasingly no cost — have expanded dramatically since 2020. According to Buck’s 2022 Wellbeing and Voluntary Benefits Survey, half of all employers (52%) have added offerings in […]

Ask the Expert: Rehire Waiting Period?

In our latest installment of Ask the Expert, brought to you by the team of industry experts at HR Hero®, we look at a recent question from a subscriber who is looking to rehire a former employee and would like to understand if the same waiting period rule applies as with a new employee. Q: What […]

mental health

Addressing the Second Pandemic: Employee Mental Health

Two years into the pandemic, employee burnout continues to rage on.  According to a 2021 American Psychological Association survey of over 1,500 U.S. workers, 79% of them experienced some form of work-related stress a month before the survey was conducted. Almost 3 in 5 respondents said they’ve suffered symptoms of burnout, such as loss of […]