Practical HR Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
The federal Bureau of Labor Statistics has just released a new survey showing the latest trends in employee benefits. The study describes what medium and large private employers offer in terms of paid leave, health and retirement benefits, and life insurance, and it provides a useful benchmarkfor comparing your own employee benefit plans. When it […]
Because of the huge stock market gains in recent years, many defined benefit pension plans contain more assets than are needed to pay out benefits. Since 1997, however, a ruling from the federal appeals court that covers California has sharply limited employers’ discretion in how to use that “extra” money. But in a recent unanimous […]
When hiring a new employee, promoting an existing worker or reviewing compensation packages, it always helps to know what your competitors are paying. You don’t want to shell out too much or discourage the best talent by paying too little. California employers have just gotten some new tools to assist them. The California Employment Development […]
After a 13-year wait, the Internal Revenue Service has just released its comprehensive regulations covering COBRA health benefits continuation coverage. The new regulations-which are a complex mix of final and so-called proposed rules-clarify several gray areas of the law but don’t change the basic COBRA mandates, including the detailed notice requirements. Even though the rules […]
Seasonal workers who are hurt on the job are not entitled to 12 months of continuous modified or alternative work as a replacement for vocational rehabilitation benefits, a California Court of Appeal has ruled. The case involved Jennifer Henry, a ski instructor at Mammoth Mountain Ski Area. After she injured her back, Henry requested vocational […]
Following on the heels of new benefit and notice requirements for health plans offering maternity coverage, a new federal law mandates that any plans that cover mastectomies must also cover breast reconstruction and prostheses. Employees have to be notified about these benefits at the beginning of this year. Check with your health benefits provider for […]
Last month we reported that the California Employment Development Department announced it would pay maternity disability benefits only for the time period a woman is actually disabled from working rather than for the four weeks before childbirth and six weeks after (or eight for a cesarean). The agency has now abruptly reversed itself-and reinstated the […]
San Jose’s City Council recently approved the highest living wage in the nation, guaranteeing certain workers far more than required by state or federal minimum wage laws. But San Jose’s new policy isn’t the first in California-and it looks like it won’t be the last.
The Labor Department has sued Time Warner, Inc., charging that hundreds of workers classified as temporary employees or independent contractors are entitled to retroactive health and pension benefits. Time Warner allegedly classified workers as temporary even after they had worked long enough to be considered regular employees under company guidelines. The government also accuses the […]
Supplementing your regular workforce with staff provided by an employee leasing company has become an increasingly popular way to keep administrative and benefit costs down and maintain labor flexibility. Many who use leased workers and long-term agency temps consider themselves immune from the risky misclassification problems that have plagued employers who use independent contractors. But […]