Tag: benefits

bad performance

FMLA Training Scenario: Performance Issues Discovered During Leave

Here we present a leave-related workplace scenario—inspired by an actual court case—that’s intended to help HR professionals better understand an employer’s responsibilities under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA).  In this scenario, when an employee went on leave, her coworkers learned that she was not executing important administrative tasks related to her position.  Based […]

Wellness programs

IRS Warns Against Using Wellness Incentives to Skirt Employment Taxes

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is seeking to discourage arrangements in which employees can obtain large wellness incentive payments in exchange for a relatively minor after-tax contribution. Contrary to their promoters’ claims, these setups cannot enable employers to finance wellness incentives solely by reducing their employment tax liability, the IRS warned.

Defined benefit retirement plan

PBGC Removes Change in Credit Quality as Possible Trigger for Early Warning Program Review

The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) in early May clarified guidance issued in late 2016 about its Early Warning Program (EWP), explaining that the program had not been expanded and such a review for an employer’s defined benefit (DB) retirement plan would not be triggered solely by a change in credit quality.

Pennsylvania

Employer’s Honest Belief in Employee Misconduct Justifies Termination, Even If It’s Wrong

The 3rd Circuit—which covers Delaware, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania—recently ruled that an employer’s honest belief that an employee misused Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) leave can defeat an FMLA retaliation claim, even if the employer’s belief is mistaken. The court also ruled that under certain circumstances, an employee’s request for FMLA leave may constitute […]

How to Reduce Presenteeism

Presenteeism refers to the situation in which employees are at work, but they are not as productive as they could be because they’re not feeling well—but they’re not feeling sick enough to take a day off, or they don’t have days off to take.