Practical HR Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
Employer-sponsored health plans and insurers got a double dose of compliance advice on May 16 from the Centers of Medicare and Medicaid Services in the form of a set of Frequently Asked Questions. The first FAQ clarifies that insurers in the individual and small group market may not impose waiting periods on specific essential health benefits. […]
Half of employers in a recent survey have seen an increased demand from employees for financial education in the past 5 years, and 68 percent now offer some kind of financial education to their employees/plan participants. Preliminary findings of the survey report, “Financial Education for Today’s Workforce: 2014 Survey Results,” show that there is a […]
by Philip Bruce Oklahoma has joined the ranks of states that limit employers’ ability to require access to applicants’ and employees’ social media accounts. Governor Mary Fallin signed the law on May 21, and it will go into effect on November 1, 2014. The law prohibits almost all employers from requiring employees or prospective employees […]
Does your organization provide anti-harassment training for employees and managers? One of the main reasons anti-harassment training is important is that employers have an obligation to provide a safe workplace—one that is free of harassment. If an employer does not take proactive steps to ensure such an environment, that employer will find it much more […]
What should an employer do when an FMLA certification form is received that is unclear? Perhaps it's filled out completely, but the handwriting is illegible in some places. Or perhaps it appears as though it may have been filled out by someone other than the person who signed it. What actions can be taken without […]
What should an employer do when an FMLA certification form is received that is unclear? Perhaps it's filled out completely, but the handwriting is illegible in some places. Or perhaps it appears as though it may have been filled out by someone other than the person who signed it. What actions can be taken without […]
I’m sitting in the airport in Austin, Texas, and the faint and rare sound of a bagpipe can be heard in the background. It seems, at the very least, out of place in a major-city airport. As the sound grows louder, it’s clear that whoever is playing the instrument is drawing closer. In the distance, […]
by John R. Merinar, Jr., and Carolyn A. Wade A new West Virginia law taking effect June 4 means employers in the Mountain State must make reasonable accommodations to a job applicant’s or employee’s known limitations involving pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions. The Pregnant Workers’ Fairness Act amends the West Virginia Human Rights Act. […]
by Connor Beatty Maine lobstermen, paralegals, and college football players may not initially strike you as the type of workers who would join a union. Yet, in the past year, each group has taken steps toward unionizing, highlighting the trend of the modern union with organized labor branching out into previously unimagined industries. Why would […]
Metrics let people make decisions based on objective information rather than simply guessing or going by instinct. Metrics also let people know what is important to the organization, since a metric that is tracked will be analyzed. HR metrics have historically often focused on the past. For example, HR metrics often include things like turnover […]