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.

Compensation Committees: New Challenges Ahead

In September, a judge rejected a $33 million settlement between the Securities and Exchange Commission and Bank of America that it deemed unfair to stockholders. The settlement related to bonus payments to Merrill Lynch executives at the time of Bank of America’s acquisition of the firm. The rejection was another indication to Scott Landau that […]

Compensation Committees: New Challenges Ahead

In September, a judge rejected a $33 million settlement between the Securities and Exchange Commission and Bank of America that it deemed unfair to stockholders. The settlement related to bonus payments to Merrill Lynch executives at the time of Bank of America’s acquisition of the firm. The rejection was another indication to Scott Landau that […]

Childhood Obesity Affects Present and Future Employees

Have you thought about the employees you will hire 10 or 15 years from now? Probably not, but the National Business Group on Health (NBGH) wants you to. The organization works with large employers to develop workplace policies aimed at keeping the population healthy and productive and at the same time save money for their […]

Maximize the Cost-Savings of Consumer-Driven Health Plans: Make Them Work for Employees

Companies considering a move to a consumer-driven healthcare (CDHC) model to cut costs and keep their health plan budgets under control need to focus on employee needs. If not properly communicated, moving employees to a CDHC model can be perceived as no more than a massive cost-shift, and will damage morale and productivity. But, if […]

Changes Loom for HR Structure, Pay Practices

Compensation laws are changing, and the changes will likely mean you’ll do things differently. The Ledbetter decision, covered here in recent issues, may have you scrambling to document pay decisions better and keep the records longer (or indefinitely). What you may not know is that these decisions could have an impact on your overall human […]

How to Avoid Freezing Your Defined Benefit Pension Plan

by Richard Berger, Cammack LaRhette Consulting It seems as if everybody is freezing their pension plans. If your defined benefit (DB) plan is desirable, how can you make it manageable for the long haul and avoid a freeze? What Has Driven Employers to Freeze? Employers have been freezing their pension plans for two main reasons, […]

How to Avoid Freezing Your Defined Benefit Pension Plan

by Richard Berger, Cammack LaRhette Consulting It seems as if everybody is freezing their pension plans. If your defined benefit (DB) plan is desirable, how can you make it manageable for the long haul and avoid a freeze? What Has Driven Employers to Freeze? Employers have been freezing their pension plans for two main reasons, […]

Building a Peer Group for Your Compensation Comparisons

 You’re asked by your company’s board of directors to reexamine your executive compensation. How, they want to know, does the company’s executive pay stack up when compared against other organizations? The first thing to do is to decide which companies should make up your peer group. Should you compare to the companies against whom you […]

Are You Buying Too Much Insurance for Your Employees?

You know the drill: spend some extra time and effort to bring down costs for the tiny percentage of participants who spend most of the health claims dollars, and you’ll reduce your insurance expenses. The problem, says Michael McKenna, president of Partners Benefit Group (www.partnersbenefitgroup.com), is that small or mid-sized fully-insured companies may not be […]

All Aboard, HR Professionals

I am thrilled to announce the launch of the SmartHRManager blog, powered by Thompson Publishing Group. Welcome. We hope this blog can do a lot for you. We want to be the place HR and benefits professionals turn to for ideas, analysis and instructions. We have a dynamic publishing company behind us to delve into the questions […]