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Compensation & Benefits

4 ways to boost minority retirement savings

05/14/2010

If current demographic trends continue, employers in the future will have larger minority workforces—and see declining employee participation in retirement benefits plans. According to a recent study by the Employee Benefit Research Institute, only 28% of Hispanic employees and 41% of black workers take part in retirement plans. Use the following four strategies to increase minority employee participation in your retirement plan.

Got Milk? Understand the Link Between Federal & State Breastfeeding Laws

05/13/2010
As you may have heard by now, the new health reform law includes a provision to protect nursing mothers who choose to pump breast milk at work. But it’s important to realize that 24 states still have their own laws on this topic. And you must follow whichever law—fed or state—gives the greatest protection to the employee.

9 simple ways to improve your wellness program

05/13/2010
One side effect of the recession: Cash-strapped employees are eating more fast food, exercising less and ignoring their health, studies show. All the more reason to refocus your wellness efforts. Nine lessons from recent studies:

The HR I.Q. Test: May ’10

05/12/2010
Test your knowledge of recent trends in employment law, comp & benefits and other HR issues with our monthly mini-quiz …

OK to use deductions to collect from employees?

05/11/2010
Q. If an employee owes us money, can we collect it through deductions from his wages?

Can laid-off, injured worker collect workers’ comp benefits?

05/11/2010
Q. We had to lay off an injured worker for economic reasons. He has not attempted to work for a year since that layoff. Will he be entitled to temporary benefits under the Florida Workers’ Compensation Act?

Prescription alone doesn’t rate FMLA leave

05/11/2010
Some employees think getting a prescription is enough to claim FMLA leave. Fortunately, that is not true. Otherwise, every employee would be entitled to time off just because they took a prescription drug.

Court: Despite their complexity, FLSA regulations still govern ‘dual assignment’ OT

05/11/2010

Some firefighters have additional law enforcement duties. Those employees are sometimes called “dual assignment” employees under the FLSA and must be paid overtime based on which duties they perform most of the time. That means that once firefighters begin spending the majority of their time on law enforcement duties, they’re eligible for overtime pay after working 86 hours in a two-week period. Firefighters must work more than 106 hours to receive overtime pay.

Feel free to discipline or fire if it’s warranted — regardless of employee’s FMLA status

05/11/2010

Thanks to a recent 11th Circuit Court of Appeals decision, it’s now clear that Florida employers can terminate employees who have FMLA leave coming—if they can prove they would have terminated the employee anyway. To prove that, you must be able to produce solid documentation showing that you were indeed going to terminate the employee whether or not she asked for FMLA leave.

How should we treat pay for mortgage loan officers under the FLSA?

05/11/2010
Q. Do we have to pay our mortgage loan officers overtime for any hours worked over 40 in a week?