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There’s been general agreement that wellness programs are effective at reducing employer healthcare costs, but survey results show that healthcare costs now matter to employees—something that’s been missing up to this point. The survey, the Principal Financial Well-Being Indexsm, covered more than 1,600 employees and retirees at growing businesses with 10-1,000 employees. Released in early […]
401(k) Fee Disclosures Type 1: Service Provider Disclosures Service provider disclosures are the first of two types of 401(k) fee disclosures covered by the regulations. Downs gave us further details, explaining that “the compliance date for the service provider fees is July 1, 2012. A service provider . . . has to provide to a […]
Beginning in April 2007, California HR professionals will have the opportunity to earn a California-specific HR certification, the first of its kind.
Over the past year, many employers have seen a huge jump in their workers’ comp premiums—and even bigger hikes may be on the way. The Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau has just reported that the California workers’ compensation insurance industry is under-reserved by a startling $13.7 billion. The WCIRB attributes the deficit to, among other […]
Californians, whose minimum wage just climbed to $7.50 an hour, aren’t the only ones seeing a boost in the minimum wage in the new year. During the November 7 elections held across the nation, voters in six states approved measures to raise their minimum wage rates. Ohio and Colorado voters approved increases to $6.85; Arizona […]
The United States Supreme Court recently held that when an employee brings a claim of discrimination, the employee may rely on circumstantial evidence to prove that the employer was motivated in part by illegal factors (such as the worker’s age, sex, religion, etc.). In a future article we will outline what this means for employers […]
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) announced on September 4 that it will perform comprehensive safety inspections at nearly 4,000 high-hazard workplaces. These inspections are part of OSHA’s Site-Specific Targeting 2009 (SST-09) program, which helps direct enforcement resources to the types of workplaces that have the highest rate of injuries and illnesses. OSHA will […]
Do we have to be a part of the State Compensation Insurance Fund, or can we go on our own for workers’ comp insurance?
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has issued new enforcement guidelines stating for the first time that federal anti-discrimination laws protect undocumented workers. According to the EEOC, illegal immigrants who are subjected to workplace discrimination, sexual harassment or retaliation can sue their employers and receive lost wages, punitive damages and attorneys’ fees. A court could also […]
It’s common to ask employees who accept early retirement to agree to waive future legal claims against you in exchange for higher pension payouts. But is it legal? Two years ago, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal ruled that Lockheed Corporation violated the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) when it did just that. The […]