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Senate Passes Another COBRA Subsidy Extension Bill

Last week, the U.S. Senate passed legislation that would further extend the federal COBRA subsidy created by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The American Workers, State, and Business Relief Act of 2010 (H.R. 4213), which passed the Senate by a 62-36 vote, would extend the subsidy to individuals who were involuntarily terminated […]

I See Your Health Reform Study and Raise You Two

The White House felt it proper to refute McKinsey Co.’s health reform study (see yesterday’s post) finding that as many as 30 percent of employers will stop offering health insurance to their workers after reform takes full force in 2014. Deputy Chief of Staff Nancy-Anne DeParle cited three studies saying employers would continue covering workers unabated. […]

Discipline Derailed by ‘Evidence’ of Discrimination and Poor Documentation

In yesterday’s Advisor, we saw Jill’s mistakes disciplining Jack; today, more that can go wrong, plus an introduction to a unique guide for smaller—or even one-person—HR departments. Jill fired Jack, but hadn’t followed policy, hadn’t been consistent, and had little documentation. Jack sued. What else could go wrong? Plenty. [Go here for Jill’s story] ‘Evidence’ […]

Inconsistent Wage/Hour Laws Lead to Confusing Enforcement, Study Says

According to a recent study, uneven enforcement of the Fair Labor Standards Act — lax in some places and more stringent in others — leaves employers confused about the extent of their liability for wage and hour violations. The study, released by the Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Government, calls for more enforcement consistency to […]

Weather Wreaking Havoc on Employers

As winter weary eyes eagerly watched to see if the groundhog would see his shadow, a large swath of the United States was paralyzed by record snow and ice forcing business closures, stranding traveling employees, knocking out power, and damaging buildings. This week, we’ve collected several articles we thought might help you deal with the […]

Highest minimum wage in nation likely for Washington, D.C.

The final vote hasn’t come yet, but on December 3, the D.C. Council unanimously voted to raise the minimum wage in Washington, D.C., to $11.50 per hour by 2016, well above the $7.25 federal minimum wage. Before the measure is finalized, the council must hold a final vote and send it to Mayor Vincent C. […]

Responding to This Week’s Job Loss Announcements

The HR Hero Line you are seeing today isn’t exactly what we had planned. But by noon on what is now being called “Bloody Monday,” we knew we needed to address the fallout from so many job cut announcements, which were then followed on Tuesday by possibly the worst unemployment report from the U.S. Bureau […]