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8/10/2011
Absenteeism may be costing you more than $660 each year per employee. But nearly two-thirds of those unscheduled absences are not for legitimate illnesses or injuries
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7/6/2011
Perfectionism can bring out the best and the worst in people. On the one hand, a perfectionist will set higher goals, work harder and achieve impressive results. But on the other hand, that same perfectionist will become immobilized by too-lofty goals, frustrate easily and make excuses to avoid disappointing others.
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6/13/2011
Since June is National Safety Month, it’s the perfect time to honor OSHA’s 40-year anniversary and recognize the agency’s tremendous influence on worker safety through the decades.
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12/19/2010
Time off to care for a child is available for same-sex couples, under a June 2010 FMLA ruling
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7/19/2010
Some of the rules governing Employee Withholding Form W-4 have been revised. Do you know the latest changes, and how they might affect your business?
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5/7/2009
When your staff levels have been cut to the bare bones, can you say no to FMLA requests?
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2/13/2009
As changes in labor law occur, it is important that organizations ensure employees understand the changes and what impact the change may have on their job. When employers fail to inform themselves and employees on the latest legislative changes they put everyone at risk.
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8/22/2008
On January 28, President Bush signed into law the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008. The new law expands leave protections under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) for the family members of U.S. soldiers.
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8/20/2008
The word "vacation" may conjure up pleasant thoughts for employees, but it’s likely to bring on a migraine for supervisors who have to juggle a project schedule to accommodate most workers’ requests.
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8/20/2008
Welcome to what’s called the “Bermuda Triangle” of employment law. Far from rare, cases like these occur so frequently that many lawyers specialize in this convergence of the FMLA, ADA, and Workers’ Comp.
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8/20/2008
When exempt employees call in sick, can the employer make salary deductions for those who have not qualified for leave or have exhausted their leave allowances? Yes, assuming the employer has a bona fide sick/vacation leave plan as described by the Fair L
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8/20/2008
There's a question-and-answer document on how the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) applies to employment rights of persons with cancer
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8/20/2008
Although pregnancy rates are declining, the number of women filing pregnancy discrimination complaints has risen dramatically, making pregnancy-related claims one of the fastest-growing employment discrimination charges, outpacing sexual harassment and se
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8/20/2008
HR people working for employers covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act are usually aware that higher-level employees rate an exemption from the law’s overtime regulations.
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8/20/2008
The tangle of government regulations concerning employee leave policies is continually growing. Managers need to understand the complexities of regulations concerning family leave, medical leave, military leave, jury duty, voting and other forms of time o
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8/20/2008
On July 24th, 2007, the first phase of the Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2007 will go into effect, raising the federal minimum wage from $5.15 to $5.85 an hour
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8/20/2008
Employers covered by the FLSA (that’s most of you) must have the following on file for each employee
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8/20/2008
Unless they’ve been hiding in a cave for the past year or so, HR people know that they need to comply with HIPAA Privacy Rules. Small-company employers all over the country have been asking three simple questions
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8/20/2008
As it currently stands, the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) requires covered employers – private employers with 50 or more employees - to provide those employees with up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave in a 12-month period
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8/20/2008
Several states have enacted laws which supplement or expand on the provisions of FMLA, granting additional leave, usually unpaid, for other personal or family purposes
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8/20/2008
Are you in full compliance with the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)? That’s the federal law that governs federal minimum wage provisions, equal pay and overtime requirements, establishes requirements for recordkeeping and calculation of wages
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8/20/2008
Under federal law, you as an employer have certain obligations to members of the armed forces. Read on and discover many of your obligations to service members under the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act.
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8/20/2008
Regardless of the outcome of the initial medical certification, employers are also entitled to require periodic recertification of the employee’s health condition to substantiate that he or she continues to need/ qualify for FMLA leave
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8/20/2008
As of August 23rd, 2004, the Department of Labor updated its Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) rules regarding overtime pay for the first time in 50 years
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8/20/2008
Although tough times may call for tough measures, they often require some highly creative ones, too. That’s especially true when it comes to avoiding layoffs. Here’s an array of suggestions HR and higher managers can use to help keep some of their workfor
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8/20/2008
Employers must maintain HIPAA policies and communications in writing. Most commonly, there will be a binder (or series of binders) devoted to compliance with HIPAA regulations
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8/20/2008
Regulations governing overtime eligibility under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) establish new criteria for determining whether employees are exempt from federal overtime requirements
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8/19/2008
If you’re hustling to get those W-2s out the door on time, take a few minutes to check your work. According to the Social Security Administration (SSA), these are among the most frequent errors employers make when reporting wages for the year
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8/19/2008
In 2005, the Department of Labor affirmed that it is permissible to reduce an exempt employee’s paid time off bank for absences of less than a day
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8/19/2008
There are four major bona fide exemptions under the FLSA. The DOL recently issued the new FairPay Rules, new regulations revising the criteria for each exemption
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6/2/2008
On July 24, 2008, the second phase of the federal minimum wage increase will go into effect. This change will affect full-time and part-time workers in the private sector and in Federal, State and local governments
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6/2/2008
Vacation Policy
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7/31/2007
What if you have been paying and employee too much and you want to recover the difference from them. Is that legal?
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7/30/2007
Is it legal to temporarily increase an employee's pay and then reduce it later
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7/30/2007
While you no doubt have a vacation policy that allows a certain number of days off based on time worked or years of service, administering time off can still be a touchy subject
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7/30/2007
An exempt employee must receive his or her full salary for any workweek in which he or she performs any work without regard to the number of days or hours worked
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6/8/2007
According to a nationwide poll of approximately 2,000 workers, more than half of U.S. workers failed to use all their vacation days, and one in five said they planned to take long weekends instead of a full vacation
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3/7/2007
One such plan is the Savings Incentive Match Plans for Employees of Small Employers (simple for short). It comes in two flavors—the SIMPLE-IRA and the simple-401(k).
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3/7/2007
They eliminate the need for employees to get time off approved under a certain category of absence instead providing employees with a block of time to use however they wish.
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3/7/2007
When creating a new position or hiring for an open one, outline the minimum skills, education, and experience required to do the job. Set a salary range based on those job specs.
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3/7/2007
Every fall, an employee misses work due to a serious allergic reaction to ragweed. Quick—is this a “serious health condition” covered by the FMLA? Or is it a “disability” covered by the ADA?
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3/7/2007
USERRA, which covers virtually all U.S. employers, is as much or more about the reservists’ return to work as it is about their departure
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3/7/2007
More workers and families are choosing not to have children, yet many companies have policies that favor parents over childless workers. Did you grant more liberal holiday leave to parents last year than you did to workers without children?
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3/7/2007
With over 20,000 Employee Assistance Programs in the U.S. to choose from, how do you know which to pick?
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3/7/2007
There is an alternative: a separation agreement. It carries an element of risk, but sometimes it can help an employer achieve its objectives without getting sued.
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3/6/2007
It’s very important to classify workers properly as employees or independent contractors. If you don’t, the consequences can be severe.
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3/6/2007
It’s not hard to figure out, they get scared off by the heavy administrative burdens mandated by ERISA, the Employee Retirement Income Security Act. They may also worry about funding and administering a retirement plan in the face of the many uncertaintie
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3/6/2007
In continuing a seesaw battle that has been waged since 1982, The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) recently held, in a tight 3-2 decision, that a nonunion employee does not have the right to be accompanied by a fellow employee during a meeting that m
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3/6/2007
Conventional wisdom has it that when female manager goes out on maternity leave, there’s a good chance she won’t come back. But an article that recently appeared in the Journal of Applied Psychology puts a twist on that view.
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3/6/2007
Are you penalizing your healthiest and most reliable workers? You may be, if you are still running a traditional time-off program, in which vacation days and sick days are counted separately.
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3/5/2007
Why do employees like legal plans? Says Marcia Messett, sales director for MetLife’s Hyatt Legal Plans, “We offer the most frequently needed personal legal services that typical employees need—and through a network of local attorneys.”
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3/5/2007
Here’s a quick look at the major components of USERRA, the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act. This act protects the jobs and employment rights of those who need leave for routine training or who are called up to serve in times of n
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3/5/2007
The question of whether salaried workers are eligible for overtime pay is a challenging one. While many CEOs and other high-level executives do not garner overtime compensation for putting in extra hours, some salaried employees may be entitled to the sam
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3/5/2007
A retirement plan is needed if you want to recruit and retain quality employees, but whether you already have one, or are about to select a plan, there’s a lot to consider.
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3/5/2007
With the emergence of paid-time off (PTO) programs, the concept of sick days, vacation days and personal days may soon be ancient history
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3/5/2007
With the price of health-care benefits expected to rise another 12 to 15 percent this year—20 percent for prescription benefits—what’s a cost-conscious Human Resource manager to do to keep benefits costs under control
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3/5/2007
According to Phyllis Severance, attorney and principal of Workers Risk Services in Burlington, Vermont, the average workers’ comp claim takes seven years to wind its way through the medical, insurance, and legal systems
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2/28/2007
Wondering how the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) affects you? To help you sort it out, we’ve tackled some of the more frequently asked questions about this important law
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2/28/2007
HR people report that more and more twenty-two-year-old recruits are asking knowledgeable questions about 401(k) pension plans. Having a 401(k) is no longer a “nice to offer” benefit for some companies
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2/27/2007
Sign up with an Employee Assistance Program, or EAP. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, each dollar you invest in an EAP will save you anywhere from $5 to $16
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2/27/2007
Is providing domestic partnership benefits (DPBs) right for your company? That’s a decision you’ll have to make based on the nature of your workforce, region, customers, and values
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2/27/2007
The problem is, most smaller companies don’t have established pay policies. The first step in creating a pay policy that employees view as logical and fair is to conduct a job analysis
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2/26/2007
The Fair Labor Standards Act is the most violated of any of the federal employment laws. Robinson, who suggests employers hire an FLSA expert to do an audit designed to catch problems, cites the following as among the most common
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