Archives
401(K) Matching Getting More Generous?
Big Cases Get Class Action Status
Short Takes: Sick Time Overtime
If a nonexempt employee is sick one day of the week but works some extra hours and is paid for more than 45 hours that week, does the employee get overtime?
Reimbursements: Can You Give Us Some Help on Employee Expense Reimbursements?
We’re trying to revise our travel reimbursement policies, and we need some help. We’re trying to simplify. Can we pay a per diem? Meanwhile, we’d rather just pay employees a set amount more in salary and not hassle at all with receipts and vouchers for every little thing. I understand that there’s a case now […]
You’re The Expert: An Inconsistent Disciplinary Policy
We have some fairly rigid discipline rules. Sometimes we want to bend them for a special employee. But then we’re not being “consistent,” and consistency has been drilled into us by every expert. Can we bend the rules and still maintain integrity in our system?
Contracts: How Did We End Up Creating an Oral Contract?
I thought we had an “at-will” relationship with our employees, but recently, we got sued and the court found that the employee had an “implied contract” with us. Now we want to be sure that we’re not creating contracts we don’t want and that we do have contracts we need. How should we move forward? […]
Health and Safety: I’ve Just Been Handed Safety; What Do I Do?
We’ve just had a reshuffling of responsibilities, and I ended up with safety. We’re a mid-sized manufacturer. Can you give me some guidelines to help me out as I take over this important new role? — Bill C., HR (and Safety) Manager in Palo Alto
Health Benefits: A Look at Recent HIPAA Developments
If you have an employer-sponsored health plan, it is important to stay up-to-date on the latest information about the Health Insurance Portability & Accountability Act, or HIPAA—which imposes requirements regarding the security of medical information, nondiscrimination in health plans, and much more. We’ll take a look at HIPAA developments that are new for 2007.
HR Bonanza
Last night’s five episode marathon of The Office was an HR executive’s nightmare! Below, I’ve blogged about the litigation value of each of the five episodes separately — four of which are entirely new entries as the episodes were from previous seasons. While they aired as individual episodes, if these incidents were to occur in […]