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Conducting internal investigations: avoiding claims of intimidation and coercion

by Randi J. Winter Employers routinely conduct internal investigations in response to allegations of harassment, discrimination, retaliation, theft, and other forms of employee misconduct. Although conducting such investigations can be critical to your continued operations, you should be mindful of the importance of exercising neutrality and fairness during the investigative process.  Be thorough, but fair […]

Perks Survey Results in; How Do You Compare?

Highlights of our 2014 Perks Survey of over 2,000 employers: Paid holidays is the number one perk. Also in the top five: life insurance, LTD, STD, and paid vacation. For exempt employees, flextime is offered by 60.9%. Other benefits being offered include: Financial planning assistance (51.7%) Telecommuting (49.2%) Legal assistance programs (39.8%) On-site fitness centers […]

Are we evolving on sexual orientation/gender identity issues?

Many states have statutes prohibiting discrimination against employees on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. Not all states have such prohibition, and since there is no broad federal prohibition on discrimination by private employers based on either category, that leaves local ordinances to address the issue. A look at what is happening in […]

Train Employees to Give Great Customer Service to Coworkers

If you and your employees don’t work directly with company customers, it may seem that customer service training doesn’t apply to you. But it does. Customer service is an issue that involves everyone in the organization. That’s because all employees have customers. If they don’t have external customers, they do have internal customers, otherwise known […]

Higher PBGC Premiums Make DB Plans More Apt to Borrow

Defined benefit plan sponsors have gained a new incentive to fully fund their pension plans – even if that requires borrowing, according to a recent research report. The Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act enacted in mid-2012 raised U.S. Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. premiums for plan sponsors maintaining an underfunded DB plan, […]

How to Hire Like Google

How do you and your companies go about hiring new employees? Each company is obviously different in their hiring techniques. For Google, they go about hiring in steps. These steps help them determine which prospective candidate is right for their company. Take a look at the infographic below to learn more!

6 Design Considerations for Executive Pay Plans

Designing your executive pay plan can be daunting—you need to consider a whole host of factors, such as the company’s goals and the competitive environment. Let’s take a look at some design considerations for effective executive pay plans.

Ban the Box Laws: Are You Affected?

‘Ban-the-box’ laws are laws that say you cannot have a question on your application that asks ‘do you have a criminal conviction?’ Typically, applications will ask for an explanation or description if the answer was yes. This forces immediate disclosure.

How Does the Reasonable Accommodation Process Work?

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires employers to not discriminate against qualified individuals with disabilities. It also requires that those individuals should be given reasonable accommodations (whenever applicable) to allow them to perform the essential functions of the job, as long as doing so does not create an undue hardship for the employer. Let’s […]

Why Proper Worker Classification Is So Important

Ensuring the proper classification of workers is a concern for many reasons. Taxes, employment laws and employee benefits are the main ones. Have you run into situations where you were unsure of whether a worker should be classified as an employee or contractor?