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Employee Attitude Survey Can Get You the Inside Story–For Free

Ever wonder what your employees are thinking about their jobs, supervisors, promotion opportunities, teamwork, and other important workplace issues? Now you can find out, through the complimentary National Employee Attitude Survey. Employers can sign up to participate in the survey program that will benchmark their employees’ responses to a written questionnaire to answers from employees […]

FedEx Settles Independent Contractor Suit for $26.8 Million

FedEx Corp. has agreed to shell out a whopping $26.8 million to end a long-running dispute over whether California delivery drivers in the company’s ground unit are independent contractors or employees. Last year, a California appellate court ruled in the case that about 200 ground drivers were misclassified as independent contractors. The drivers had sued […]

Health Care Reform Provisions Employers Need to Worry About

Have you been pulling your hair out for the past several months trying to determine what health care reform means for your organization? This article will provide you with a good starting point by outlining many of the major provisions of the health care reform package (the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the […]

Amid Criticism, Labor Withdraws Plan to Limit When Children May Work on Farms

The U.S. Department of Labor is abandoning its plan to limit when children under the age of 16 can work on farms. The plan, proposed in the fall, limited the Fair Labor Standards Act’s “parental exemption” and was intended to help reduce farm-related accidents. Introducing the now-defunct proposal, DOL officials said they were responding to […]

News Notes: Incomplete Summary Plan Descriptions Can Be Costly

Auto parts manufacturer Kelsey-Hayes Co. gave employees a summary plan description of their employee benefits plan stating that health insurance would continue at no cost when they retired. The summary didn’t mention the company had the right to modify or terminate benefits, even though the master health care plan paperwork did. Later, when Kelsey-Hayes informed […]

Survey: Modest Pay Budget Increases for 2012

BLR’s 2012 Pay Budget Survey results suggest another marginal improvement in economic conditions from one year ago. The average planned merit increase for 2012 is 2.07%, according to the survey results, while the average actual merit increase for 2011 was 1.87%. In last year’s 2011 Pay Budget Survey, employers reported that their average planned merit […]

Were Overseas Employees Properly Classified as Hourly Workers?

By Kevin C. McCormick, Whiteford, Taylor & Preston LLP In a recent unpublished decision, the 4th Circuit—which covers Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, and West Virginia—held that several employees who worked for an American company overseas were properly classified as hourly employees despite some confusion about the offer letters describing their compensation.