Practical HR Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
By Leanne Fioravanti and Stephen Acker In these tough financial times, a number of companies are trying to reorganize themselves in order to avoid insolvency or bankruptcy. In Canada, there are several laws that help facilitate this process: the Companies Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA) and the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act (BIA). For the most part, […]
Ah, healthcare costs. If you’ve changed carriers, deductibles, and co-payments more times than you care to remember, you may be discouraged. Take heart, says Jill Madison, there’s a better place to look for savings. Madison is managing director of Consulting Services at Craford Benefit Consultants. Her comments appeared in a white paper on BLR’s all-things-compensation […]
Yesterday’s Advisor showed how one company handles tiered recognition. Today we’ll look at legal issues and other considerations for award policies, and take a look at a unique program for developing all the policies you need. As with most HR endeavors, employee recognition and award programs come with legal baggage. Here are the three issues […]
by Don Harrison Dealing with workers’ compensation administrators (or claims adjusters or attorneys) can be as frustrating as trying to decode a teenager’s text messages — KWIM (know what I mean)? This week, we thought we’d provide you a cheat sheet to help you make sense of the workers’ comp world. Audio Conference: Workers’ Comp […]
By Katie Clayton and Cherity Smith Since the economic downturn took hold, each day brings another announcement of employee layoffs and corporate downsizing. Recent blog entries have looked at options such as layoffs, furloughs, and reducing hours of work. There is another option in Canada – work-sharing. What is work-sharing? Work-sharing is an adjustment program […]
Layoffs have many downsides. Employee morale is guaranteed to drop. A company’s unemployment insurance premiums will rise, perhaps steeply. And if an employer provides severance packages and/or outplacement services, they could get very expensive. If layoffs are significant in number, a business may not be able to adequately compete once the economy turns around. And […]
In yesterday’s Advisor, attorney Wendy Warner explained how employers make things worse for themselves when lawsuits threaten. Today she shares ideas on how to make things better. Warner usually represents employees, but changed hats at a recent Society for Human Resources (SHRM) convention. Here are her simple steps employers can take “to keep lawyers like […]
As employers know, certain employees aren’t entitled to overtime pay under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The most common exemptions include the executive, administrative, and professional exemptions. Because the administrative exemption is more nebulous than the executive and professional exemptions, employers often misclassify non-exempt workers as exempt administrative employees. Although it should be […]
by Katie Clayton and Jennifer Shepherd Figuring out an employee’s entitlements upon termination can be tricky in Canada. It can be an even trickier exercise for commissioned employees. For example, are employers required to pay employees commissions for deals that close after they are terminated? Unless the employment contract explicitly states otherwise, the answer is […]
The nation’s economy and its impact on state budgets will be the overriding factor state legislatures address in 2009. Many states have already attacked their budget shortfalls by delaying projects, implementing hiring freezes, eliminating positions, and cutting programs. With predictions of continued shortfalls in 2009, state budgets will be first on the agenda for lawmakers. […]