Compensation & Benefits

Can we ask our employees to keep mum about their bonuses?

12/19/2014

Q. Our company is handing out bonuses only to those who deserve it. Can we ask them—not demand them—to keep it quiet as we hand them their checks?

Employers still offer health benefits despite Obamacare

12/18/2014

Employer-provided health benefits are as common as ever more than a year after the Affordable Care Act began reshaping the health insurance landscape.

Severance Pay

12/18/2014

HR Law 101: Severance policies are generally considered employee benefit plans entitled to ERISA protection, many courts have ruled. For employers, that means conforming to ERISA’s recordkeeping and disclosure requirements …

Supremes: No pay for time spent on security screening

12/17/2014

The U.S. Supreme Court on Dec. 9 unanimously ruled that workers at a warehouse are not entitled to pay for the time they spend waiting to undergo anti-theft screenings, nor for the time spent actually being screened.

Three-year checkup: OCSE revises IWO & instructions

12/17/2014

Every three years, the federal Office of Child Support Enforcement revises the standard Income Withholding Order. All child support withholding orders must be issued on IWOs. The OCSE recently updated the form and instructions.

Health care cost growth lowest in over 50 years

12/16/2014

Health spending last year grew at the lowest rate since 1960, according to the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

Do first names count for Social Security purposes?

12/15/2014

Q: An employee’s Social Security card lists her first name as “Michelle.” She says this is a mistake, and her name is really spelled “Mechelle.” When I told her that she needed to get a replacement Social Security card, she said that the Social Security Administration told her that she would need to first have her name changed in court before a replacement card could be issued. This sounds fishy to us. Does the SSA care about first names?

Americans have 2½ hours for leisure each day

12/14/2014

The average American spends more than 16 hours either working or sleeping, according to the U.S. Department of Labor’s American Time Use Survey.

COBRA: Employer Obligations

12/13/2014

HR Law 101: Under the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA) of 1985, employers are required to continue offering health insurance benefits to employees and their covered dependents for a specified period after they leave the organization …

Walkthroughs, wellness contribute to 1 million-hour safety milestone

12/12/2014

Paperboard packaging company Zumbiel Packaging used positive reinforcement and employee education to log more than 1 million hours without a lost-time accident and a quarter million hours without any type of injury.