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Compensation & Benefits

Keep salaries gender neutral; pay gap widens at top levels

06/01/2003
Heads up: Pay equity is in your hands; make sure salaries are always gender neutral. Reason: Women are less likely than men to reach the highest salary brackets, according to …

Is a janatorial supervisor exempt or nonexempt?

06/01/2003

Q. We classified our janitorial supervisor as an exempt employee. She meets some of the qualifications, such as hiring and firing janitorial staff. But when she’s on site, she mainly performs janitorial duties. Is she classified correctly? —L.B., Texas

Give employees advance notice of severance plans, waivers

05/01/2003
Don’t spring severance-plan details on employees right before a layoff. The Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) says you must give employees advance notice …

Don’t sugarcoat benefit changes

05/01/2003
Many companies are cutting costs by changing their employee benefits programs. But don’t shoot from the hip when explaining these changes to employees, …

Don’t cut severance if it violates written contract

05/01/2003

Q. We need to change our severance policy, mostly due to declining business conditions. Can we reduce the severance amounts cited in employment agreements with certain staff as long as we notify them of the change? —J.C., Illinois

Most Nonprofits Aren’t Exempt From COBRA

05/01/2003

Q. We’re a nonprofit, and we offer health insurance to our employees. If an employee is enrolled in the health plan and voluntarily quits, are we required to offer COBRA? Or does our nonprofit status let us off the hook? —A.B., Tennessee

Indefinite leave of absence isn’t a reasonable accommodation

05/01/2003
Providing a leave of absence is one way to “reasonably accommodate” disabled employees. But the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) doesn’t require you to wait …

Do you approve dubious FMLA leave? You’re not alone

05/01/2003
Half of the human resource professionals polled recently say they’ve approved Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) requests that they believed were not legitimate. They felt obligated to grant the leave …

Post Vacation Schedules in Employee-Only Areas

05/01/2003

Q. We post employees’ vacation schedules in the employee lunchroom. Occasionally, outside visitors or customers visit the lunchroom, too. Some employees have complained about this posting policy, saying it borders on invasion of privacy. Are they right and should we stop doing this from a legal standpoint? —M.M., New Jersey

Who’s an ‘outside sales rep’? Confusion causes $17 million error

05/01/2003
Make sure you’re not shoehorning delivery workers into an “outside sales rep” category to avoid paying them overtime. To be considered exempt under the …