Month: July 2013

IRS Formalizes One-year Delay in Reform’s Reporting and Penalty Rules for Employers

An official announcement on transition relief for employers from information reporting requirements under health care reform, as well as on the delay of key provisions of the employer play-or-pay mandate, was issued July 9 in Notice 2013-45 from the U.S. Department of the Treasury and IRS. In unofficial announcements last week on the White House and U.S. […]

What Changes Lie Ahead in Business Skills Training?

“Skills Mismatch: Business Acumen and Strategy Execution” studies the relationship between business skills and organizations’ ability to execute strategy, the critical skills needed at different levels of leadership, and trends in business skills development through 2018. The survey, which is based on responses from more than 300 senior corporate leaders, was conducted by The Economist […]

DOL Sues Staples for Alleged FMLA Violations

The U.S. Department of Labor has filed a lawsuit seeking back wages and liquidated damages on behalf of a former Staples Contract and Commercial Inc. employee for alleged violations of the Family and Medical Leave Act. DOL filed suit after a Wage and Hour Division investigation found that the employer failed to notify an employee […]

Discretionary Versus Non-Discretionary Incentive Pay and Bonuses

As we all know, the FLSA requires us to pay overtime pay when it is due, and the base pay rate must include all payments for that time period in question—including incentive pay and bonuses paid during that time. But is that always the case? Actually, the answer is no. It’s true that most incentive […]

HR Policies–Who’s Got What? And How Do You Measure Up?

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: What policies do you have? Which ones will you update? Who develops your HR policies? How involved is HR? What sources do you use? How […]

What can I ask on a job application?

by Robert P. Tinnin, Jr. With the national and local economic downturn, an increasing number of unsuccessful job applicants are filing discrimination charges, and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and state law enforcement agencies are examining job applications more closely for evidence of unlawful bias. The focus of these agencies has not radically changed, […]

Infographic Examines Performance Appraisal Practices

BLR 2013 Performance Management Survey Reveals Worst Evaluator Mistakes A new infographic puts the spotlight on employer performance management practices—and what HR professionals think of them. The infographic highlights findings from BLR’s 2013 Performance Management Survey conducted among survey participants representing 1,358 organizations.  It includes a “Performance Appraisal Report Card” reflecting participants’ ratings of how […]

HR Managers Are Negotiating 24-7

If you’re in HR, you’re negotiating 24—7 says expert Douglas McCabe, PhD. You’re negotiating contracts, negotiating with peers, subordinates, and bosses. You’d better figure out how to do it right. Negotiators have high status in this country, McCabe says; you don’t put losers on your negotiating team. McCabe, who is professor of management at the […]

Best Practices for Dress Code Policies

Despite the fact that there are no federal laws outlining what employer dress code policies can and cannot do, there are still plenty of ways dress codes can get employers in legal trouble. Legal challenges to dress codes are often based on allegations of gender bias, religious bias, race/national origin bias, or disability bias. To […]

CPI and Help Wanted Online—More Metrics for Comp Managers

Cost-of-Living Index Each month, the BLS collects data on prices of a “market basket” of food, clothing, shelter, fuel, prescriptions, transportation fares, medical fees, and other goods and services that people buy for day-to-day living. The BLS measures changes in these costs and reports them in the form of the CPI. The CPI, as defined […]