Month: November 2012

Fraudulent Disbursement to Ex-Spouse Not a Forfeiture, Court Rules

Plan sponsors and administrators face many issues when making disbursements from retirement plans. A recent court ruling on a payout based on a fraudulent claim should reassure those making distributions that if the distribution was in accordance with the plan terms, an employer may not suffer a penalty. In Foster v. PPG Industries Inc. (No. […]

New year brings changes to New Hampshire employer safety programs

by Jeanine Poole New Hampshire’s requirements for employer safety programs are changing. Passed in June, House Bill 1587 goes into effect on January 1, 2013. The new law provides: Employers with 15 or more employees (formerly 10 or more employees) must have a written safety program filed with the New Hampshire Department of Labor (NHDOL). […]

Examine winter-weather policy before hazardous conditions strike

Although the calendar shows winter is still a month away, employers would be wise to think now about how they’ll handle the challenges hazardous winter weather will bring. When snow, ice, or other extreme weather shows up in the forecast, employers’ thoughts turn to how weather might prevent employees from getting to work and how […]

Holiday bonuses may cause FLSA headaches

by Kara E. Shea Many employers provide bonuses to employees this time of year, including everything from holiday turkeys to annual longevity pay. However, employers that play Santa must be mindful that under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), some bonuses may require additional overtime pay to nonexempt employees. Payments that affect overtime First, […]

Making Managers Manage

Surely one of the most frustrating things about HR is managers who won’t manage. HR sets up its policies, practices, and systems and then managers don’t follow through. Some don’t care, some can’t, and some just don’t have the backbone to make tough calls. One thing’s sure—when things go South, HR’s going to catch the […]

Are Employees on Leave Talking and Texting? (FLSA)

[Go here for risks 1 to 5.] 6. Fair Labor Standards Act Risks For exempt employees, employers must pay the full salary for any workweek, regardless of the number of days or hours worked. Therefore, if an exempt employee is on an unpaid leave of absence and uses an electronic device to check or respond […]

Train Managers to Resist Retaliation

How can you keep your managers out of the retaliation danger zone? First of all, they have to recognize the danger zone (go here for yesterday’s danger zone list), and then they need to know to contact HR before taking action. Keeping Managers Out of the Danger Zone Are you in the danger zone? If […]

HRCI Responds to Reader Questions, Announces Two New Certifications

HR Daily Advisor: You have two new certifications—HRBP (HR Business Professional) and HRMP (HR Management Professional). I understand these are mostly for foreign HR people—can you give me some details? HRCI: The HRBP and HRMP are for HR professionals who work outside of the United States and have mastered their country’s HR practices and regulations. […]

Hang on Loosely … Or You’re Gonna Lose Control

Oswald, CEO of BLR, offered his thoughts on “loose” control in a recent edition of The Oswald Letter. Look “manager” up in the dictionary, Oswald says, and you’ll find it described this way: “a person who has control or direction of an institution, business, etc., or of a part, division, or phase of it.” There […]

Ignoring the Basics Can Lead to HR Failures

In yesterday’s CED, we offered tips for managing the basics of HR legal issues. Today, the rest of the tips and an introduction to a California-specific resource for your employee handbook policies. Once again, a tip of the CED hat to attorneys John K. Skousen and Christopher J. Boman, partners at the Irvine office of employment law […]