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Compensation & Benefits

Offer reasonable religious accommodations—and then insist that workers follow them

01/13/2010

Employees whose sincerely held religious beliefs conflict with their employer’s workplace beliefs may be eligible for unemployment compensation benefits. But they can’t collect benefits if their beliefs aren’t sincere—or if their employer offered reasonable accommodations and they didn’t take advantage of those offers.

Does the FMLA apply after a loved one has died?

01/13/2010

Q. I have an employee who has been taking FMLA leave to care for her ill mother. The employee’s mother recently died, and the employee has requested an additional few weeks to attend to some issues with her mother’s estate. Can I continue to treat this time as FMLA leave?

Do we need new record-retention rules now that the Ledbetter law has been enacted?

01/13/2010

Q. I keep hearing that the Ledbetter Act means we may need to hold onto documents about employees beyond our current retention policies. What do we need to do to make sure our document-retention policies comply with the law?

Workers in early to fire up computers? Pay ’em

01/13/2010

If employers tell their employees to show up a little early in order to start their computers and get themselves ready to work, that time should be compensated. That’s true even if the employer doesn’t absolutely demand early arrival, but internal systems make it tough for employees to begin their shifts if they don’t arrive early.

3 variable pay trends help weather recession

01/12/2010

By focusing sales compensation on what matters most, successful companies are offering up lessons on variable pay from which every compensation pro can learn. Struggling to make variable pay work for your organization? Pay attention to these sales compensation trends that just might apply in your organization:

No money for promised pay raise: Now what?

01/12/2010

Q. Do we have to conduct regular performance appraisals and give annual increases? We told a new hire that we would, but now don’t have time or money to do so.

What’s Working: 5 real-life benefits programs

01/11/2010

Here are five examples of real-life benefits programs cited in our HR Specialist: Compensation & Benefits newsletter: business finance courses for employees, weight-loss contests, a social club for longtime employees and retirees, extensive training for interns, as well as face time with execs.

Pre-existing condition doesn’t always mean no workers’ comp

01/11/2010

Employees with pre-existing conditions that significantly contribute to a workplace injury aren’t eligible for workers’ compensation. That’s presumably because their work activities had nothing to do with the fact that the employee was hurt. On the other hand, if something related to the job contributed to the injury, the employee is eligible for benefits.

Workers’ comp premiums dip for Ohio employers

01/11/2010

Ohio’s workers’ compensation premium reform effort appears to be working. According to the Bureau of Workers Compensation (BWC), half of Ohio’s private employers paid lower workers’ comp premiums in 2009 than in 2008.

Displaced workers get unemployment while in school

01/11/2010

Gov. Ted Strickland has expanded unemployment compensation to displaced workers who are attending school. Under the new plan, unemployed workers who are full-time students need not actively seek a job in order to receive UC benefits.