Practical HR Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
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A new California Court of Appeals decision makes employers more vulnerable to big payouts when terminating a longtime employee who has stacked up unused vacation time over the years. We’ll examine the case and give you policy tips that can help you limit the amount of accrued vacation time you may need to pay for […]
Is it a good idea to stay in touch with employees who have left the organization in the hope that we can hire them back? How To Survive an Employee Lawsuit: 10 Tips for Success With lawsuits against employers becoming ever more common—and jury verdicts skyrocketing—your risk of getting sued has increased dramatically […]
The Internal Revenue Service has released cost-of-living adjustments for contributions to employee retirement plans, including 401(k), 403(b), and 457 plans, as well as profit-sharing, SIMPLE, and SEP plans. For information on the new limits, go to the IRS website. 10 Tips for Effective, Legal Performance Appraisals Don’t let your performance appraisals fall by the wayside. […]
A recent survey of 150 executives shows that most employers—76 percent—are acting on feedback given by departing employees during exit interviews. The survey was conducted for staffing service OfficeTeam by an independent research firm. When asked how often they acted on information gathered during exit interviews with departing employees, 19 percent of executives polled said […]
Do I have to notify an employee before I change her status from exempt to nonexempt? For various legal and practical reasons, you should give notice in this circumstance. Two of those reasons: 1) Employers are required to keep records of a nonexempt employee’s hours worked each day, which typically means that nonexempt […]
Barbara Neisendorf, a vice president at Levi Strauss & Co., had serious performance problems during her 2 years at the company. Supervisor Fred Paulenich documented the deficiencies and discussed them with Neisendorf, but she refused to accept responsibility. Shortly after the performance meeting, Neisendorf began an 8-week medical leave for a panic disorder. At the […]
During the holiday season, many employers shut down their operations for a few days over Thanksgiving, Christmas, or New Year’s. If you’re thinking of closing up shop for the holidays this year, first make sure you’re up on special pay rules for employees who qualify as exempt from overtime. If an exempt employee performs any […]
The IRS has increased the standard mileage rate commonly used to reimburse employees for business use of a car to 48.5 cents per mile, up from 44.5 cents in 2006. The new rate will apply to miles driven beginning January 1, 2007. Employers who use the IRS standard mileage rate to reimburse employees may deduct […]
We tend to give employees two types of raises. First, everyone gets a COLA raise on July 1. It’s the same percentage for everyone. Then we also give annual merit raises on anniversary dates. My question is, can we start not giving the COLA raise to substandard employees? Is there a better way to structure […]
I need some help with creating a plan for coping with a possible avian flu epidemic. My boss wants a concrete plan—she thinks our operations could be hit hard if the flu comes. A few issues back you gave us a website for avian flu information, which I’ve visited. But now, can you give some […]