Month: September 2013

Employee handbooks in California: Policies regarding the employment relationship

California has some specific regulations that relate to the employment relationship—and these should be clarified in employee handbooks or in written notices. There are also some laws that affect the employment relationship, and employers need to keep them in mind, even if they’re not required in employee handbooks. Here are some examples, which will each be explored in further detail below

System for Rescuing a Manager on the Brink of Failure

Falcone, author of a number of SHRMStore best-sellers, including 101 Tough Conversations to Have with Employees and 101 Sample Write-Ups for Documenting Employee Performance Problems, is senior director, Human Resources, at Grifols BioScience. He offered his tips at SHRM’s Annual Conference and Exposition, held recently in Chicago. Falcone set up a scenario of a sales […]

Employee convicted of criminal negligence

By Antonio Di Domenico On March 22, 2006, B.C. Ferries’ vessel the Queen of the North missed a scheduled turn causing it to run aground and sink off the northern tip of Vancouver Island. Fifty-seven passengers and 42 crew members abandoned ship before it sank. Two passengers were never found and were declared dead. On […]

Retaliation is Reality TV

I think it’s safe to say that now, in 2013, we as a society are overrun by reality TV. The Truman Show starring Jim Carey debuted in 1998. In case you have forgotten, that was the movie where the whole world watched one man’s every move on a daily basis, from brushing his teeth to […]

How Sponsors Can Change Retirement Plans in Wake of DOMA Decision

By Austen K. Townsend The Supreme Court’s decision on Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act in U.S. v. Windsor No. 12-307 (June 26, 2013) raises many issues for employers and other plan sponsors to consider about their qualified retirement plans. Section 3 of DOMA provided that the term “marriage” meant only a legal […]

IRS Streamlines Employer Health Coverage Reporting in Proposed Rules

Self-insured employers may not have to report the portion of the premium they pay, because that is not needed to determine if an individual is covered by “minimum essential coverage.” That’s one of a number of reporting items removed or reduced in IRS proposed health care reform rules detailing and streamlining reports on coverage offered […]

Exempt Employees and PTO: Special Considerations

How do you handle exempt employees and PTO together? Why does an employee’s exempt status matter for the purposes of taking time off? It comes down to the decisions employers make when exempt employees do not work a full day. Can an employer require an exempt employee to take PTO for the hours not worked […]

Train Supervisors on These 4 Steps to Recognize Alcohol Abuse Problems

CDC Director Dr. Tom Frieden called the effect of excessive alcohol consumption devastating. He added, “In addition to injury, illness, disease, and death, it costs our society billions of dollars through reduced work productivity, increased criminal justice expenses, and higher healthcare costs.” The study says the economic burden on states is huge—an average of $3 […]

HR Department Survey Results Are In; How Do You Compare?

The most common HR-to-employee ratios are between 1 to 101 and 1 to 200. While 1% of respondents earned over $200,000 per year, the most commonly reported salary was between $51,000 and $70,000 per year. The most commonly outsourced function was background checks Thanks to all 1,839 companies that participated in the survey! Here are […]

HITECH Act compliance deadline is September 23

by Elizabeth A. Diller and James P. McElligott Jr. Employer-sponsored health plans subject to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) must be in compliance with the final rule under the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH Act) and the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 (GINA) by September 23. […]