Month: January 2011

MPN Notice Rules

Yesterday, we looked at some of the recent changes imposed by the California Division of Workers’ Compensation. Today, we’ll look at some more of the new rules relating to medical provider networks (MPNs). We’ll also tell you about a webinar tomorrow that you won’t want to miss.

Workplace Monitoring and Canadian Privacy Rights

By Sébastien Lebel and Chris Semerjian Canadian employers have many ways to monitor and control their business operations. However, new technologies — if misused — may lead to violations of employees’ rights. In particular, this raises the question of the extent of employees’ right to privacy. The monitoring of business operations may involve only buildings […]

Warning Signs–Unions Organizing Behind Your Back

In yesterday’s Advisor, attorney Mark Ricciardi presented key reasons why employees are attracted to unions. Today, what you can do about it, and an introduction to a unique training system that will help you to avoid union pressures. Ricciardi, a partner in the Las Vegas office of law firm Fisher & Phillips, LLP, offered the […]

Ask the Expert: Can an employee’s adult child be covered on employee’s health plan if the child lives in his own home and files his own income taxes?

September 27, 2010 On and after March 30, 2010, both coverage under an employer-provided health plan and amounts paid or reimbursed under such a plan for medical care expenses of an employee’s child who has not attained age 27 as of the end of the employee’s taxable year are excluded from the employee’s gross income […]

Ask the Expert: Our policy says you must work the day before and the day after a holiday to receive holiday pay. What if an employee is on FMLA before or after a holiday?

November 29, 2010 As a general rule, employers are not required to provide any non-health plan benefits to employees on FMLA leave, (such as holiday pay) unless such benefits are provided to employees on non-FMLA leave (29 C.F.R. 825.209). The U.S. Department of Labor addressed your question in an Opinion Letter that can be viewed […]

Obama Names GE CEO as Head of New President’s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness

President Obama has named GE CEO Jeff Immelt as head of the new President’s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness. The move is a definite switch from the President’s previous Economic Recovery Advisory Board, lead by Paul Volcker. Now, the focus is not on repair, but on creating new jobs. Immelt knows a little something about […]

Ask the Expert: Is it better to keep personnel files in a central location or on-site locally?

October 4, 2010 This is really a matter of company policy. Many companies maintain an official personnel file with copies of resumes, applications, offer letters, performance appraisals, training records, salary increases, etc. In addition, the official file should contain any contract or written agreement between the employee and the employer (such as a noncompete agreement), […]

Employers Increase Surfing Controls

There has been a 20% increase in the number of companies blocking employees from using social networking sites. The percentage increases in 2009 vs. 2008 of companies banning web sites by specific categories include: social networking sites, 20%; travel-related sites, 28%; restaurant/bar websites, 27%; sports-related sites, 26%; shopping sites, 26%; job search sites, 19%; and […]

Job Satisfaction Continues on a Downward Trend

In a 2010 job satisfaction survey of 5,000 households, the Conference Board found that 45 percent of respondents said that they are satisfied with their jobs, down from 61.1 percent in 1987, the first year the survey was conducted. The report noted that real average household incomes grew at an annual rate of 2.0 percent […]