Practical HR Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
Employers and plan administrators that offer health flexible spending accounts have been bracing themselves for Jan. 1, 2013. That’s when the $2,500 limit on health FSA salary reduction contributions provided for in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act kicks in. The IRS on May 30 issued Notice 2012-40, which provides guidance on the limit, […]
Child labor is highly regulated as to hours, age, and type of work, by both the federal and state governments. Let this book program and audio conference help keep you in compliance … and out of court. Yesterday’s Daily Advisor reported the onset of the annual teen summer job hunt … thousands of youngsters seeking […]
To avoid FLSA trouble, be careful of misclassifying employees, making improper deductions, denying breaks, and allowing nonexempts to work “off the clock.” Dell Computers built its success on operating numerous call centers, where customers could phone in and buy their systems direct from the manufacturer. Now the way Dell runs those centers is under attack. […]
Recent U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) figures reveal the number of workers who belong to labor unions has continued its steady 20-year decline. In 2003, just 12.9 percent of U.S. workers belonged to a labor union, down from 13.3 percent a year earlier. For private sector workers, union membership fell from 8.6 percent to […]
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has scheduled an April 25 union representation vote for Northwestern University football players. Spokespersons in both the Chicago and Washington, D.C., NLRB offices confirmed that the April 25 date has been set but didn’t have more information such as which players will be eligible to vote and when results […]
The federal Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that benefits plan administrators can be sued for failing to adequately advise employees of the terms of a mandatory arbitration procedure for appealing benefits decisions. Laboratory Corporation of America had a health plan with a 60-day time limit for requesting arbitration after an internal claim appeal was […]
By David R. Godofsky Yesterday’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Conkright v. Frommert rejects the “one-strike-and-you’re-out” rule, awarding a home run to Xerox as sponsor of a defined benefit pension plan. The Conkright case arose when Frommert and other employees brought a claim for benefits. The employees contended that the method Xerox used to compute […]
Governor Wilson recently approved two laws, one of which will make it easier for smaller employers to offer health benefits to part-time workers, and the other which changes the unemployment insurance rules to allow benefits to employees who are victims of domestic violence. Both measures take effect on January 1, 1999. Here are the key […]
Employers wishing to make their views known on a proposed rule aimed at making nearly five million more workers exempt from the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and therefore eligible for overtime pay have through September 4 to submit comments. The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) released a proposed rule on July 6 that would […]
It’s no secret that the private pension system in the United States is in crisis. Last week, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC), which insures pensions for about 44 million Americans, announced that it has a startling deficit of $23 billion, fueled largely by having to take over pension plan liabilities of bankrupt airlines. But […]