Month: September 2013

Mariano Rivera offers a lesson in class

by Dan Oswald Either you love the New York Yankees or you hate them. I’m a hater. I grew up hating them. They were the antithesis of my beloved Chicago Cubs. That is to say they were winners. But I didn’t hate them because they were winners—well, maybe a little. I hated them because of […]

How’s Your Comp System Doing? Metrics Tell the Tale

Why Are Compensation Metrics Important? Pasteris, who is president of TLMP Consulting Group, offered her tips at a recent BLR-sponsored webinar. She says that metrics help with the following: Knowing whether you are succeeding in following your compensation philosophy. For example, say you want to pay at the 75th percentile of the marketplace. You have […]

Is There a Difference Between Diversity Training and Harassment Training?

The training question is, “What is the difference between diversity training and harassment training, and what do trainers need to know about adequately covering both topics?” Here is how a training expert responded: “They are quite different and should be different,” says Linda Willing, president of RealWorld Training and Consulting (www.rwtraining.com). She describes harassment/discrimination training […]

Q&A on Employee Benefits under DOMA Ruling

With the DOMA ruling so recent in our minds, employers have more unanswered employee benefits questions than ever before. Is it now illegal to tax healthcare benefits for a same-sex spouse? How should multi-state employers react if the final ruling comes down that only same-sex couples who reside in a state that recognizes same-sex marriages […]

Executive Pay Plan Design Considerations

Designing an executive pay plan requires a lot of facets to be considered, not the least of which is: how high should executive pay be? But the exact amount is far from the only consideration. How should an organization decide to pay executives? Is there a formula to use? Unfortunately, it’s seldom that simple, and […]

Allergies in the workplace can’t be ignored

By Eowynne Noble Peanuts, gluten, perfumes, smoke, and latex—we all know allergies to these and other substances are on the rise. And workplaces aren’t immune to the problem. More and more employees are suffering from allergies and sensitivities than ever before. To put it in perspective, Health Canada recently reported that up to four percent […]

Does the DOMA Ruling Affect FMLA Rights for Same-Sex Couples?

When the Supreme Court ruled that Section 3 of DOMA is unconstitutional, it opened up the possibility for married same-sex couples to be extended federal benefits on many levels, including things like FMLA leave. While the details have yet to be sorted, employers are gearing up for the many changes that will surely result. In […]

Workers’ compensation latest battleground for NFL

When is $765 million a bargain? Apparently, when you’re the National Football League. By now most people know that the NFL agreed to pay $765 million last month to settle a lawsuit brought by more than 4,500 players and their families, who alleged that the league concealed what it knew about the dangers of concussion-related […]

Holidays—What’s Happening? (And Are You Competitive?)

Please participate in our brief survey and see how what you are doing stacks up against what other successful companies are doing. We’ll get answers to these questions and more: Which days will be paid holidays in 2013? In 2014? How will you handle Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s holidays this year? Do you pay […]