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More Investment Advice from Fiduciaries Deemed Trustworthy by DOL

Retirement plan investors will save between $5 billion and $13 billion annually, thanks to new exceptions to DOL’s prohibited transaction rules, DOL estimates. The DOL’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) opened the door to allowing fiduciaries to offer investment advice in a final rule published to become effective Dec. 27, 2011. DOL estimates this new rule […]

Great California Workplaces: Quality and Sustainability Drive Lundberg Family Farms’ Winning Commitment to Its Employees

Lundberg Family Farms is a family-owned-and-operated business in Richvale that produces and markets high-quality organic rice and rice products using environmentally friendly farming processes. Lundberg uses sustainable methods that protect the land and other natural resources for future generations, from the field to all aspects of production and marketing. This commitment to care and quality […]

Playing hooky from work

Curb Summertime Blues with Good Absence Policies, Effective Rewards

Holy Ferris Bueller! Is it possible that some of your employees are calling in sick to have fun in the sun? It’s hard to quantify how many people play hooky from work just to enjoy beautiful, warm weather, but according to a recent CareerBuilder’s annual survey on absenteeism, 29 percent of workers took a faux […]

Sexual Orientation—No Law, But Cases Go to Court

Sexual orientation discrimination—there’s no federal law forbidding it, yet "any lawyer with a pulse" can get a claim to go forward in federal court, says attorney Michael Cohen. If sexual orientation—and gender identity and gender expression—are not on the list of protected characteristics (race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, or age), how do such […]

Experts Explain Top 5 COBRA Implications of Reform’s Summary of Benefits and Coverage

One simple line requiring that group health plans and insurers describe “continuation of coverage provisions” in summaries of benefits and coverage (SBCs) actually raises several complex issues for COBRA administrators. The health care reform law requires that group health plans and insurers accurately describe in SBCs the benefits and coverage under the applicable plan or […]

Internet Giving Workers the Upper Hand in Salary Negotiations

Web-based providers of salary information, such as Compensation.BLR.com, allow job seekers or workers lobbying for a raise to tell you “what I’m worth” even before you make an offer. Here’s what to do to counter the trend. It used to be that, when buying a car, the dealers held all the cards. They alone knew […]

Firing an Employee: Why You Should Never Act Alone

In yesterday’s CED, Hunter Lott of Please Sue Me fame offered his lawsuit avoidance tips. Today, his advice on legal exposure in 2011, plus an introduction to an upcoming event you won’t want to miss. First, specialized input. As we mentioned in yesterday’s CED, specialized members of the management team, like the HR manager, are in a […]

Issues When Entering Canada with a Criminal Record

Times have changed. Borders, too. Frequent business travelers know that and leave earlier to allow for longer security controls. But they are sometimes astonished when a border officer declares them inadmissible to Canada for criminality. A new environment Nowadays, border officers work in an enforcement environment. A much greater emphasis is now put on security […]

Bill Would Require Minimum Wage in Sheltered Workshops

For more than 70 years, the Fair Labor Standards Act has allowed employers to pay some workers with physical or mental impairments less than the federal minimum wage. H.R. 3086, introduced by Cliff Stearns (R-Fla.), Tim Bishop (D-N.Y.) and Gregg Harper (R-Mo.) earlier this fall, would change that. HR 3086 would phase out special wage […]