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Rose-colored Glasses: Self-funding Is Looking Better for Smaller Firms

If you run a smaller firm and pay an insurance company to cover your workers’ health, one of your top concerns is probably how to control spiraling health insurance expenses. Just two or three major health expenditures can cause your insurer to radically increase your premiums. And if you’re located in a part of the […]

Arizona Petitions U.S. Supreme Court to Review S.B. 1070

By Dinita L. James Following through on the strategy announced in April, Arizona Governor Jan Brewer filed a petition yesterday asking the U.S. Supreme Court to review the lower court decisions blocking implementation of key provisions of S.B. 1070, Arizona’s tough immigration law. A federal district judge in Arizona blocked four provisions of the law, […]

Arrivederci to the ARRA Premium Subsidy Law, for the Most Part

This month technically marks the end of the last 18-month period of coverage for individuals who could take advantage of continuation coverage premium subsidies under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA). But that doesn’t mean employers can just breathe a sigh of relief and wave off this law. Here’s a summary of […]

Pay Never Goes Down? Another Bad Habit

Carroll is Director of Professional Services and Education at Payscale, Inc.; Lee is Director of Qualitative Analytics. Their remarks came at a recent webinar hosted by WorldatWork. Bad Habit #4. Pay Never Goes Down [Go here for Bad Habits #1, #2, and #3.] Lots of organizations just continue to move things upward, both ranges and […]

Lunch and Breaks—’Little’ Violations, But Fines Add Up Quickly

In yesterday’s Advisor, we covered two of the most common wage/hour violations; today, more violations plus an introduction to a surprisingly easy-to-use FLSA Audit Guide. Wage/hours violations like lunch break payments seem like small potatoes, but multiply by 250 days a year and a thousand employees and add penalties—you’ve got a big-dollar fine. Common Violation […]

Express Yourself! Employers Must Give Women Breaks to Breastfeed

One of the odder add-ons to the health care reform law requires employers to provide nursing mothers with unpaid “reasonable break time” each work day to express breast milk for up to one year after a child’s birth. Section 4207 of the law amends the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) to require employers to provide […]

The 4 ‘Sticky Wickets’ of Sales Comp—Quotas, Cycles, Orders, Push

I get lots of questions on sales compensation,” says consultant David Cichelli, “but the number one sticky wicket is always quotas, closely followed by long sales cycles, and mega orders.” Cichelli, who is Sr. Vice President at The Alexander Group, offered his tips at World at Work’s Total Rewards conference held recently in San Diego. […]

OSHA Beefing Up Whistleblower Program

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has announced changes aimed at strengthening its protection of employees who report suspected unlawful activity on the part of their employers. The plan to correct problems with the Whistleblower Protection Program comes after OSHA conducted a top-to-bottom review prompted by audits of the program by the Government Accountability […]

WHD: The Six Most Common Wage/Hour Violations

What are the most common violations found by DOLs Wage and Hour Division (WHD)? Time clocks, rounding, training time, and break time are among the top six. By law, employees must be paid for all “hours worked.” In general, “hours worked” includes all time an employee must be on duty, on the employer premises, or […]