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Target-date Funds’ Popularity Heightens Transparency’s Importance

Nearly every defined contribution plan sponsor now offers target-date funds in its participant investment menu, as these funds, often named for the year a participant expects to retire, eliminate the need for employees to construct their own investment portfolio. A recently released white paper about TDFs examines plan fiduciaries’ uncertainly regarding what TDFs should contain […]

Washington, D.C., closer to $11.50-per-hour minimum wage

The Washington, D.C., City Council on December 17 unanimously approved raising the city’s minimum wage to $11.50 an hour by 2016. The minimum wage then would be indexed for inflation. The current minimum wage for hourly workers in Washington, D.C., is $8.25 an hour, a dollar higher than the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an […]

When Must Employers Comply with New FMLA Leave Requirements?

Update: New FMLA regulations issued by DOL on November 14, 2008 The recently enacted military family leave grants two new types of Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) leave to the relatives of military personnel. In short, the law requires employers to provide: 12 weeks of leave to employees who have a spouse, parent, or […]

Administration Loosens Individual Mandate to ‘Un-cancel’ Policies

The Obama administration on Nov. 14 proposed an administrative fix to allow individuals and small businesses losing coverage to keep their plans for another year. The fix was necessary in part because many people who lost coverage: (1) could not enroll for coverage on reform-mandated state-based health insurance exchanges due to problems with the government’s […]

News Notes: EEOC And Labor Department Team Up their Enforcement Efforts

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Department of Labor have announced plans to share information and resources in enforcing anti-discrimination laws. Among other things, staff in the Labor Department’s Wage and Hour Division will be trained to detect violations of equal pay laws and share their findings with the EEOC. The agencies tout the […]

New Year’s resolutions for managers

by Paul M. Lusky One of the annual goals of a good CEO, manager, or supervisor should be to reduce the company’s exposure to employment litigation. The cost of litigation keeps going up, and just one lawsuit can make a sizeable dent in a company’s budget. In 2016, I resolve to . . . : […]

News Notes: Half-Million-Dollar Slander Verdict For Employee Accused Of Theft

A recent verdict provides a good reminder ofwhy it’s important to listen to and follow up on employee complaints. A juryawarded maintenance technician Bob Haist $500,000 on his clam that his managerat Chula Vista–based Goodrich Aerostructures slandered him by accusing him infront of his co-workers of stealing from the company. Haist’s co-workers alsoallegedly watched managers […]

Hot List: BusinessWeek’s Best Seller List

BusinessWeek magazine ranks the 15 best selling hardcover and paperback business books in April 2009 and  gives a short summary. 1. Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell. As you’d expect with Gladwell, there are lots of surprises in his explanation of why some people succeed fantastically. Pluck and smarts get less play here […]