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Compensation & Benefits

You decide definitions for full- and part-Time status

02/01/2004

Q. How many hours must employees work to be considered full time? Part time? —D.S., Texas

Don’t break severance promise to employee

02/01/2004
If your organization’s execs grumble about not wanting to pay a promised severance package, point them to this case: A company president refused to fully honor Donald Chisholm’s severance package as …

Cut lost work days with earlier disability-claim notice

02/01/2004
Short-term disabilities don’t last as long at organizations where em-ployees report their disability claims quickly, a new report indicates.
CIGNA Group Insurance found that organizations whose claims are reported within …

Business trip injury qualifies for workers’ comp

02/01/2004

Q. One of our nonexempt employees was traveling with her boss to other company sites to conduct meetings. After one meeting, she and the boss went to dinner, which the company paid for. During the meal, the employee broke a crown on her front tooth, requiring emergency dental work. Would this fall under workers’ compensation? —R.B., Alabama

Don’t lash out at workers who take jury-duty leave

02/01/2004
Issue: Can a small organization point to its size as a valid reason to deny jury-duty leave?
Risk: State law exemptions won’t necessarily protect you from this type of lawsuit. …

Don’t delay on FMLA decision; act quickly or risk liability

02/01/2004
Issue: Notifying employees that their leave qualifies under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). Risk: Courts tend to resolve borderline FMLA eligibility disputes in favor of employees. Action: …

Review state law on voting leave

02/01/2004
Issue: Some states require you to give employees time off to vote. Benefit: You typically don’t have to pay for this “voting leave.” Action: Learn your state law and …

Require proof of jury service

02/01/2004
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Beware Time-Clock Inconsistencies

02/01/2004

Q. Our employees punch in 15 minutes or less before their warehouse shifts begin. We pay them starting at their scheduled start time. Also, our employees are scheduled for 30-minute lunch breaks, but some punch in and out for lunch within 10 or 15 minutes. Our company pays the full lunch time, regardless of what is punched. Is this OK? —J.W., Indiana

Bush’s ‘temporary worker’ plan faces uphill battle

02/01/2004
President Bush put forth an ambitious plan in January to let illegal aliens hold jobs legally in the United States for the first time. The blaring headlines made this “temporary worker” …