Month: August 2012

Health Reform Means Different Things for FSAs and HSAs

There is some persistent confusion over what the implementation of the health reform law means for health flexible spending accounts and health savings accounts. The short answer is that with one exception, employers and plan administrators must follow different steps for health FSAs and HSAs. Understanding these steps is crucial, because the time to prepare […]

TPA Is Not Fiduciary in Dispute Over Benefits Error, Judge Rules

By Jane Meacham Employers should exercise oversight of third-party administrators, to ensure they distribute accurate plan notifications and information about beneficiary distributions. That’s because in the case of certain errors, the TPA may end up not being defined as a fiduciary, as Judge James Graham in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio, Eastern Division, ruled in Stark […]

Understanding EEO Job Categories for the EEO-1 Report

Are you prepared to file your EEO-1 report, complete with the employee survey information broken down by EEO job category? The deadline to submit and certify 2019 and 2020 EEO-1 Component 1 data is Monday, August 23, 2021. After delaying the opening of the 2019 EEO-1 Component 1 data collection because of the COVID-19 public health […]

HR Departments in Flux—What Are Best Practice Companies Doing?

For years, BLR® has surveyed HR and compensation/benefits professionals to find trends in policy and practice. We appreciate your participation in our series of brief, targeted surveys. Today’s survey topic: Your HR Department. (We’ll publish the results in a future issue.) Please participate in this brief survey and together we’ll get answers to these questions […]

Key Comp Issues: Alignment, Compression, and Risk

[Go here for questions 1 and 2] 3. What is the Alignment of Incumbents Within Their Pay Grades? Perform the following analyses, suggests Carroll: All positions in the organization compared to the midpoint (market) Positions within each pay grade compared to the midpoint (market) Analysis of incumbents within each pay grade compared to the midpoint […]

Performance Appraisal Ratings—Training Required!

Because poor performance is often advanced as the reason for a termination, the performance appraisal system is often the crux of the defense against a wrongful termination suit. Here’s how to train your managers and supervisors to make sure your appraisals hold up. Direct Legal Problems in Appraisals One common claim is from an employee […]

Compensation: Alignment, Compression, and Risk

Yesterday’s Advisor featured PayScale’s Stacey Carroll’s tips for compensation analytics. Today, more of her analysis tips, plus an introduction to the trusted compensation guide, , Employee Compensation in [Your State]. [Go here for questions 1 and 2] 3. What is the Alignment of Incumbents Within Their Pay Grades? Perform the following analyses, suggests Carroll: All […]

Judge Supports Employee Request for Benefit Details

By Jane Meacham Employers and plan administrators may want to err on the side of providing more information, not less. That is one of the messages behind a recent decision by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio, Western Division. In Arp v. Whirlpool Corp.,  Case No. 3:12 CV 770 (July 10, […]

Putting the "me" in team

Putting the “me” in team

There is no “I” in team, but there is a “me.” How many times have you heard someone utter that phrase tongue-in-cheek? I’m sure it has been at least a time or two. Now think for a moment, have you ever worked with someone who really does put the “me” in team? My guess is […]

'They Never Told Me'

‘Surely They Know What I Want’ Managers and supervisors don’t like confronting their employees about performance problems so they tend to assume that employees are aware that they are not doing an acceptable job. Unfortunately, employees don’t think that way. They assume that everything is fine unless they are told otherwise. Then if there’s a […]