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

Compensation & Benefits

4 Tips for Choosing a Long-Term Care Insurance Plan

01/01/2004

Long-term care (LTC) insurance can offer a low-cost way to upgrade employee benefits. The benefits: reduced absenteeism due to employee caregiving duties and  tax benefits for some employers. Use these four strategies to decide whether sponsoring an LTC insurance plan makes sense for your organization …

Back problems top workplace disability claim

01/01/2004

Want to know where to focus your health-prevention dollars? Concentrate on the ailments that are costing your organization the most money in employee absences, decreased productivity and increased health care costs …

Don’t expect employees on FMLA leave to stay in bed

01/01/2004
Issue: Make sure you’re in the right before punishing people for ‘misusing’ FMLA leave. Risk: Tons in legal fees defending an arbitrary decision. Action: Make it clear to employees …

Labor readies final overtime rule; Congress steps out of the way

01/01/2004
Opponents in Congress recently dropped their opposition to the Labor Department’s proposed rules that redefine which employees qualify for overtime pay.
That clears the way for Labor to release the …

Reverse age bias is rarely an issue with early retirees

01/01/2004

Q. Are there any specific rules defining “early out” retirement packages offered to employees? Our company is planning to offer early outs. Our criteria mandate that an employee must have worked 15 years and be at least 50 years old. But we have employees who have worked as long as 28 years, but fail to meet the 50-year-old criterion. Is this age discrimination in a reverse sort of way? —T.G., Florida

Break time must be uninterrupted time

01/01/2004
Spread the word that nonexempt employees’ breaks and meal times should be used for those purposes, not for work. And put the policy in writing. That may force you to juggle …

When must you pay people for working while on break?

01/01/2004
Issue: Court ruling adds uncertainty to when you must pay hourly employees for work performed on their breaks. Risk: Liability for back and overtime pay. Action: Urge managers to …

6 ways to determine if you should pay ‘volunteers’

01/01/2004
Issue: More for-profit organizations are using “volunteers” to help in their normal course of business, and they’re taking a legal gamble. Risk: Back pay and FLSA claims. Action: Use …

Focus on employee results, not face time

01/01/2004
A new OfficeTeam survey asked employees what one thing would give them more job satisfaction. The runaway winner: more schedule flexibility (33 percent). The lesson: If possible, stagger schedules to …

Figure out how much you’re worth

12/01/2003
Issue: The recent slow growth in HR pay hikes picked up speed in 2003. Benefit: Stronger pay growth nationwide gives you more bargaining power in your shop … or on …