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Compensation & Benefits

Plenty of reasons to fire him? Ex-employee probably won’t get unemployment

04/05/2010
Employees are entitled to unemployment compensation only if they lose their jobs because of things over which they have little or no control. On the other hand, employees get no benefits if they’re terminated for improper conduct as defined by the employer.

Tighten up attendance policies, or get ready for an unemployment comp hit

04/05/2010

Here’s added incentive to have crystal-clear attendance policies: Employees who are terminated for violating unclear or confusing attendance rules may end up collecting unemployment compensation payments. Here’s why: Former employees can successfully argue that they were terminated through no fault of their own if they can show that the attendance policy was difficult to understand and comply with.

Were Blackwater’s employee relations murky as well?

04/02/2010
Xe Services, the Moyock-based defense contractor formerly known as Blackwater, faces three lawsuits by former trainers who claim the company misclassified them as independent contractors. The suit seeks overtime pay.

Employee is injured while driving for coffee: Is he due workers’ comp?

04/02/2010

In most states, employees can earn workers’ comp coverage for injuries that occur “in the course of employment.” That can be a fuzzy term. In the following case, you be the judge:

Scooter Store ranks fun among its top goals

03/31/2010

One of The Scooter Store’s six core ideologies, along with “focus on the customer” and “achieve financial success,” is “have fun.” To that end, the New Braunfels, Texas-based supplier of scooters and power chairs employs a VP of Celebration and schedules dozens of celebrations every year.

The Affordable Care Act Health Care Reform Law

03/29/2010
On March 23, 2010, President Obama signed into law a landmark health care reform bill, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. It ushers in major changes in the way employers provide and pay for health insurance for their employees. This page provides links to articles and training on the new law:

Sabbaticals, paid health care still on at Maryland firm

03/29/2010

Despite the sluggish economy, the Annapolis, Md.-based IT firm CollabraSpace has continued to offer a paid, four-week sabbatical to any employee who reaches his or her five-year anniversary with the firm. And it still pays 100% of its 33 employees’ health and dental insurance premiums.

Can we offer comp time instead of overtime pay for nonexempt employees who work OT?

03/26/2010
Q. Can we offer our nonexempt employees comp time instead of overtime pay during a pay period? If we can, do we have to offer it at one and a half times, just like overtime is paid? For example, if an employee works one hour of overtime, do we have to give him one and a half hours of comp time?

Returning from disability leave, can employee dictate the terms of his new job?

03/26/2010
Q. One of our employees has been out on disability leave for almost 16 months. He says he wants to return to work, but only if we give him a supervisory position without a lot of strenuous activity. We have no such position available. We’ve offered him other positions, but he’s refused them all. Can we legally terminate him?

You have personal liability under FMLA and ERISA

03/26/2010
Here’s food for thought: HR professionals and managers who terminate an employee for trying to get the benefits he is due under the FMLA or a company benefit plan are personally liable for the resulting harm.