Month: December 2013

IRS Standard Mileage Rates Drop a Half-cent

Employers whose employees use their own vehicles business can now adjust their reimbursement forms and procedures for 2014, since the IRS released the standard mileage rates for the year in Notice 2013-80 on Dec. 6. The IRS also adjusted the reimbursement rate for miles driven for medical purposes or a relocation, also by half a […]

Train New Hires to Reduce Their Number of Injuries

According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), 40 percent of injured employees have been on the job less than a year. Farmers Insurance Group says that more than half of new workers injured were employed for less than a month, and one of every eight injuries occurred on the first day of work. […]

San Francisco employers soon must consider flexible work requests

by Cathleen S. Yonahara San Francisco’s new Family Friendly Workplace Ordinance takes effect January 1, 2014, meaning covered private employers in the city must consider employees’ requests for flexible or predictable working arrangements to assist with their caregiving responsibilities. Employers that directly or indirectly employ at least 20 employees are covered. When calculating the number […]

Four T’s for Dealing with That ‘Tough Nut to Crack’

With difficult, loud people, ask, Why is he or she so difficult? Maybe my thought is that this person is insecure, so I change my behavior, things change for the better, and the other person takes the credit. But there’s the beginning of a relationship. Four Ts of Crucial Connections To work on difficult relationships, […]

Master of his fate: leadership lessons from Nelson Mandela

by Dan Oswald “A good head and a good heart are always a formidable combination.” Nelson Mandela On December 5, the world lost an incredible leader when Nelson Mandela passed away at age 95. Mandela was South Africa’s first black president and led the country after the end of apartheid. Mandela’s passing caused me to […]

Who’s Exempt—Vets? Chefs? Nurses? Police?

Wage and hour is supposed to be simple, but it just refuses to be easy. Lots of jobs fall into that gray area between exempt and nonexempt. For clarification on specific jobs, we turned to BLR’s Wage & Hour Self-Audit Guide®. Athletic Trainers Athletic trainers who have successfully completed 4 academic years of preprofessional and […]

TPA May Not Be Sued for MHPAEA Violations, Court Rules

A third-party claims administrator may not be sued for violating the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act because the law by its terms applies only to group health plans and their insurers, a federal district court ruled. Related ERISA claims against the TPA were also dismissed because the company was not the “plan administrator” […]

Are You Giving New Hires Enough Safety Training?

Here are some examples that illustrate the problem of new hire accidents: A laborer on the job less than a month is injured when he slips off a ladder. A young worker makes unauthorized use of a forklift his first day on the job and is badly injured when the forklift tips over. A new […]

Relationships? ‘Sorry, Gotta Have ’Em to Get Stuff Done’

HR Isn’t About Compliance We spend a lot of energy worrying about regulations and compliance, says Schooling, but that’s not HR. We professionals in HR: Pay attention to changing conditions, constantly scanning the environment. Explore and stay tuned in to human dynamics. Understand theories of motivation like push/pull and Maslow. Are empathetic and tuned in […]

Mandatory flu vaccination/masking policy upheld

By Charles G. Harrison A recent labor arbitration in British Columbia upheld the employers’ policy requiring annual flu vaccinations or masking for their healthcare staff. Coming as it does during flu season, this is a timely decision.