Month: January 2012

5 Reasons Why You Need a Green Program

You know that green programs are good for business, so why is it so hard to get upper management buy-in? Maybe it’s because they don’t fully understand all of the benefits of a green program. BLR’s newly-published Top 10 Best Practices in HR Management for 2012 offers help. Here are some convincing reasons to help […]

Disenrolling Dependents Was Proper After Member Ignored Document Requests

A plan participant’s disregard of health plan requests to verify dependent eligibility was a proper basis of a plan’s action to remove his dependents from coverage and garnish wages to recover about $23,000 in benefits overpayments, a federal court ruled in Muhammad v. Ford Motor Co., 2012 WL 95298 (E.D. Mich., Jan. 12, 2012). The […]

White House Proposes Expanded Military FMLA Leave Provisions

The Obama administration is proposing expanded leave provisions under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) for military families. The proposed rule would extend the entitlement of military caregiver leave to family members of veterans for up to five years after the veteran leaves the military. At the present time, the law covers family members […]

Reemployment Rights of Returning Vets

USERRA Reemployment Rights In yesterday’s Advisor, we covered eligibility for military leave under the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA); today, the specifics of reemployment rights for returning vets, plus an introduction to BLR’s “audit-before-the-feds-do” program.In yesterday’s Advisor, we covered eligibility for military leave under the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act […]

DOL proposes rulemaking to implement statutory amendments to FMLA

Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis  announced on Jan. 30 that the U.S. Department of Labor is issuing a notice of proposed rulemaking to implement new statutory amendments to the Family and Medical Leave Act that would expand military family leave provisions and incorporate a special eligibility provision for airline flight crew employees. The FMLA, […]

Enough is Enough: You Can’t Make Progress Without Action

They say to never talk about religion or politics, but I’m going to risk it today. The President gave his State of the Union speech last Tuesday night. I was at a dinner event and missed it. And, I’m sad to say, I really don’t care that I didn’t hear it. You see, I’m incredibly […]

Employers Beware: EEOC Making New Strategic Plan

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is seeking comment through February 1 on a four-year strategic plan, and it’s important for employers to know what that plan means to them. The draft of the 2012-2016 plan calls for the agency to: fight employment discrimination through law enforcement; prevent discrimination through education and outreach; and improve […]

Stay One Step Ahead of the Misclassification Police

What do short stories by O. Henry and independent contractor analysis have in common? You’re left guessing the outcome until the very end, says attorney Deanna Brinkerhoff. The federal Department of Labor (DOL) is cracking down on classification, and that makes now an excellent time to evaluate your organization’s classification decisions.