Practical HR Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
Yesterday’s Advisor talked about smoking bans. Today we’ll discuss antismoking “bribes”—more politely, incentives–and a guide that has helped thousands of companies to develop wellness programs of their own. Under federal law, employers may establish employee health assessment and promotion programs as long as the programs meet the following requirements: Employee participation is voluntary; Information obtained […]
The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC), a federal government agency, is proposing a rule to facilitate mergers of multiemployer pension plans. Mergers are a way some plans can preserve and protect the benefits earned by workers and retirees.
October 24, 2009 As you know, under the Fair Labor Standards Act, exempt employees must receive their full salary for any week in which they perform any work, without regard to the number of days or hours worked. However, there are some exceptions to this rule. Sickness and disability deductions are an area of confusion […]
In connection with affirmative action regulations that were revised in 2000, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs annually sends out what’s known as an EO survey to randomly selected federal contractors. The mandatory survey—which has stirred much controversy among federal contractors who claim that it’s burdensome—asks contractors to submit a […]
Regulatory guidance is closer to fruition that may help 401(k) and 403(b) plan sponsors better educate plan participants on lifetime income options, and may allay their concerns about the expense and legal risk of doing so. On May 8, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration issued an advance notice of proposed rulemaking […]
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, President Lyndon B. Johnson was authorized by Congress to declare National Hispanic Heritage Week in 1968. In 1988, Congress expanded the celebration, and September 15 was chosen as the beginning of the monthlong event because it is the anniversary of independence of five Latin American countries: Costa Rica, El […]
A hearing-impaired worker in Los Angeles who requested a sign language interpreter for meetings–and instead was allegedly told by her supervisors to read lips and try harder–will receive $100,000 to settle her claim that her employer failed to accommodate her under the Americans with Disabilities Act. In a confidential settlement, the government employer also agreed […]
On Friday, August 12, the Eleventh U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta held 2-1 that the individual health insurance mandate provision found in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), the comprehensive health care reform legislation that President Barack Obama signed into law in March 2010, is unconstitutional. More specifically, the court found […]
Federal Contractors Beware: Employees Can Sue For Additional Wages in California If you’ve ever contracted to do work for a federal agency, then you’re probably intimately familiar with the federal Service Contract Act of 1965 (SCA)—which spells out what employers working on federal contracts have to pay their employees. Now a California Court of Appeal […]
By BLR Founder and CEO Bob Brady BLR’s CEO suggests that if you want to get ahead in HR, avoid gambles, but take risks! As the CEO and owner of a small business, I get to observe the willingness of people to take risks. Some are natural risk-takers. Some will bet only on a sure […]