• The HR Specialist - Print Newsletter
  • HR Specialist: Employment Law
  • The HR Weekly

Compensation & Benefits

How should we handle pay for employee who will be out two weeks on National Guard duty?

06/09/2010
Q. One of our full-time employees has just informed us that he will be on two weeks of National Guard duty soon. He will be absent from work to attend an annual encampment in a reserve branch of the armed forces. What are our legal obligations concerning pay to this employee?

Prepare for the crackdown: DOL focuses on wage underpayment

06/09/2010

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) is stepping up efforts to encourage and support certain types of wage-loss claims by low-income workers. Labor Secretary Hilda Solis announced in April that the department was rolling out its “We Can Help” campaign to address this issue. If you employ relatively low-wage workers, you need to be aware of this program.

No STD documentation? OK to discipline–or fire

06/09/2010

If you offer short-term disability (STD) benefits for employees who can’t work because of illness, you probably insist on medical documentation. If the employee doesn’t provide that information within the reasonable timeline your STD plan requires, you can count the absence against the employee and terminate her.

What legal issues should we weigh before allowing employees to bring their pets to work

06/09/2010
Q. We run a pretty laid-back office and are considering allowing employees to bring their pets to work. Anything we should be thinking about?

What are the legal risks of not paying interns?

06/09/2010
Q. For years, we have used student interns during the summer months. Because they are interns, we do not pay for their services. Is this legal?

Recession bloats waistlines as well as unemployment rolls

06/08/2010
The combination of work stress and economic pressures appears to be playing a role in the U.S. labor force’s weight gain. Overall, 44% of workers say they have gained weight in their current jobs, up slightly from 43% in 2009, according to a new survey.

Reform result: Brace for higher health costs

06/08/2010
Employers are bracing for health care costs to go up—not down—now that health care reform has become law, according to separate surveys conducted by Towers Watson and Mercer, two of the nation’s largest comp and benefits consulting firms.

Have a no-fault attendance policy? Beware the FMLA liability trap

06/08/2010
Lots of employers have no-fault attendance policies, which allow a certain number of unexcused absences without any documentation and then punish employees who go beyond allowable limits. No-fault policies are fine … as long as they don’t penalize workers for taking time off that’s protected under the FMLA.

‘Healthy Money’ program engages most of firm’s staff

06/07/2010

At the Pepsi Bottling Co. in Somers, N.Y., even the employees’ money is a health concern. Since the organization introduced a “financial wellness program” in 2008, more than 20,000 of its 33,000 U.S. employees have participated.

Longer workday gives 2 weeks off for Solix employees

06/04/2010

About half of the 400 employees at the Parsippany, N.J., headquarters of outsourcing firm Solix don’t report for work for two weeks around the December holidays—but the other half do. Members of a work group that specializes in business processes for schools and libraries mirrors the schedule of its clients, which typically are closed for the holidays.