Practical HR Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
Large corporations thinking about transferring hefty defined benefit plan payouts to insurance companies for them to manage now have judicial support for that approach. A federal judge in Texas has denied a bid by retired Verizon Communications executives to block the company from making a proposed shift off its books of $7.5 billion in pension […]
We hear a lot in the news these days about the historically low unemployment rate, but one figure we don’t hear about nearly as much is the labor force participation rate—the ratio between the size of the labor force and the size of the overall population for that age group, often grouped by cohort (i.e., […]
By HR Consultant and Sports Executive Skip Weisman As baseball season starts, our guest columnist explains how lessons learned by sports teams can help business organizations. He knows because he’s led both. With dreams of a World Series championship dancing in their heads, 30 major league teams have just begun the 2007 major league baseball […]
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) has published a final rule clarifying the penalty that may be imposed on a plan administrator for failing to provide a written notice to participants and beneficiaries of their rights to diversify the portions of plan accounts that are invested in the employer’s publicly traded […]
When the U.S. Department of Labor issued an opinion two years ago suggesting that absences due to the common cold or flu could sometimes qualify as family leave, it was greeted with consternation by many employers. Now, in a new decision, a California appellate court has overturned a $118,000 verdict in favor of a worker […]
Sixteen states have proposed legislation introduced under the title “The Healthy Workplace Bill.” In 2009, 12 states’ legislatures considered bullying bills but none passed them. The legislation is intended to stop workplace bullying but hasn’t yet been made law in any state. Keep up with the latest changes in state employment laws with the monthly […]
Traditionally, succession planning focused on an orderly transition at the top of the company. Today, the focus is on dealing with the coming “brain drain” most companies will experience as Baby Boomers begin to retire.
We’ve had two bad hiring experiences in which we found out later that candidates misrepresented certain areas of their background. Now, we want to improve our background checks. What can you recommend? — Isabella, HR Staffing Specialist in Oakland
Two new California state laws, signed by Gov. Jerry Brown Oct. 9, raise the stakes for companies that violate the state’s wage and hour laws. Assembly Bill No. 459, among the latest move by feds and the states to crack down on independent contractor abuse, prohibits willful misclassification of employees as independent contractors. The law […]
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) has published a final regulation requiring pension plans to file Form 5500 annual reports electronically, beginning with 2008 plan year filings (due in 2009). The agency has also proposed changes to update the forms that will be used under the new electronic system. For information […]