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Compensation & Benefits

No unemployment benefits after quitting to avoid firing

01/12/2012
Employees who quit usually aren’t eligible for unemployment compensation. Only those who quit for “a good reason caused by their employer” are eligible for benefits.

Paying women less, hoping for the best is recipe for Equal Pay Act disaster

01/12/2012
Ignoring an employee’s persistent complaints that she’s being paid less than her male counterparts may amount to a willful violation of the Equal Pay Act (EPA). And willful violations add a year onto the two years of back-pay liability.

Strict attendance policy is fine if followed consistently

01/12/2012

Some jobs require employees to always show up on time. Nursing homes, day care centers, hospitals and the like are obvious examples. Draconian attendance policies may be necessary to ensure coverage. As long as they allow for FMLA leave and consider reasonable accommodations for disabled workers, such rules are fine.

Older worker pay maxed out? That’s not bias

01/12/2012
If your company has a top pay level for each job classification, you probably end up giving some older workers smaller raises than less-tenured employees. That’s fine as long as you can explain that the difference is because of your wage schedules, not age discrimination.

Help employees handle their federal income taxes

01/12/2012
Comp and benefits pros have three ways to make tax time easier on employees this spring. Work with your colleagues in payroll and accounting to publicize these conveniences—and protect workers from fraud.

When must lunch breaks be paid?

01/11/2012
Q. Our employee handbook says nonexempt retail em­­ployees can take an unpaid 30-minute lunch break. However, our store is often very busy and employees often take lunch breaks of only 10 to 15 minutes. Should employees be paid?

‘Garage-sale overdose’ and 12 other outrageous reasons for missing work

01/10/2012

Have you seen a lot more empty seats around the workplace these days? When asked to share the most unusual excuses their employees have given for missing work, employers offered the following real-life examples …

12 compensation trends to watch in 2012

01/10/2012
The average pay raise will be modest this year—around 3%—compared to about 4% from 2005 to 2008, just before the economy tanked. Here are a dozen pay trends to consider as your organization weighs how to structure compensation in an age of diminished expectations.

Better performance through recognition: 8 steps

01/09/2012
Slower economies tend to reduce employers’ incentives to say “thank you,” either with pay, perks or actions. Still, a 3% dip in the percentage of companies using recognition programs since 2008 doesn’t suggest a permanent decline, according to a survey by WorldatWork. Eight tips to create a recognition program that drives performance:

Solid record-keeping is the key! Document pay criteria to shoot down EPA cases

01/06/2012

Employers are free to pay em­­ployees different rates based on training, experience and education. You’ll be fine as long as you can justify your pay criteria. However, an employee’s sex is never a legitimate differentiator.