Month: October 2011

Harassment Is a Diversity Issue (Men and Women Are Different)

In yesterday’s Advisor, attorney Jonathan Segal illuminated the risks in office romances; today, three women and a man discuss sex in the office, plus we learn about a unique 10-minutes-at-a-time training system. Harassment is a diversity issue, says Segal, who is a partner in the Philadelphia office of law firm Duane Morris LLP, because our […]

‘Competition’ from ‘Exchange’ Plans Won’t Incite Employers to ‘Desert’ Health Benefits, Optimists Say

As the government fulfills its promise to create an essential benefit package, employers can be forgiven for thinking the government’s putting a competitor plan out there to lure plan members away from employer-sponsored plans. And it is tempting for them to just say: “Fine! You asked for it; no more funding health benefits!” But paradoxically […]

Hiring Athletes as Employees

Once a colleague told me that he thought hiring former athletes was a risky proposition. His take was that while they were often charismatic, on average they just weren’t as smart as most. I politely reminded him that I considered myself a former athlete (with the emphasis on “former”), to which he had to think […]

Office Romance Hypotheticals … and The Real World

Office romances are one of the biggest legal risks managers can take, says attorney Jonathan Segal. Even when relationships appear to be totally consensual, they’re dangerous from a legal standpoint. Segal, who is one of SHRM’s most popular speakers, is a partner in the Philadelphia office of law firm Duane Morris LLP. His remarks came […]

FMLA/CFRA certification: Process and potential problems

FMLA/CFRA certification is an important step in the FMLA/CFRA leave administration process. The medical certification is often the basis of whether a leave request is granted (assuming the employee is otherwise eligible) or denied. As such, it is important for employers to understand:

More Investment Advice from Fiduciaries Deemed Trustworthy by DOL

Retirement plan investors will save between $5 billion and $13 billion annually, thanks to new exceptions to DOL’s prohibited transaction rules, DOL estimates. The DOL’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) opened the door to allowing fiduciaries to offer investment advice in a final rule published to become effective Dec. 27, 2011. DOL estimates this new rule […]

Dependent Coverage Won’t Explode Military Health Expenses

Health reform’s expansion of dependent health coverage may not have a profound effect on expenses in the Dept. of Defense (DoD)’s TRICARE program, according to a recent Government Accountability Office (GAO) study. Background Employees’ dependents can be covered by their parents’ employer-provided insurance up to age 26 under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA). […]

Candidate’s COBRA Premium Kerfuffle Points Out Differing Employer Practices

Employers have different ways of administering COBRA continuation coverage, as evident in a recent news article about a local candidate’s problem when he was found to owe a city government money after it paid some of his COBRA premiums. The Post-Standard reported Oct. 27 how Timothy Lattimore (R), former mayor of Auburn, N.Y. , elected […]

No Room for FLSA Abuses at Hilton

A Hilton subsidiary has agreed to pay more than $715,000 in back wages to 2,645 workers in four states. The agreement comes in the wake of a Labor Department investigation into the handling of payment for work done before the start of a shift. Nonpayment of pre-shift work at heart of DOL investigation Hilton “profited […]