Author: Jane Meacham, Contributing Editor

Employers in Tax-break Pilot May Offer myRA Accounts by Late 2014

Employers may not feel much of an administrative burden from the new “starter” retirement savings accounts announced Jan. 28 in President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address, but those opting to participate should be prepared for employees’ questions about the My Retirement Account or “myRA” program ahead of its launch late this year. While […]

Incentives to Keep Sales Pros Focused Where You Want Them Focused

Sales Organization Sales compensation plans often fail because they are not rooted in careful analysis beforehand. Your plan has to be defined by the market you are in and who your customers and competitors are. For example, if your customers are all young, you may do your sales work over the Internet; if you sell […]

Are You Plugged in to Electrical Safety Training?

The material in today’s Advisor is adapted from a course in TrainingToday’s Workplace Safety Library called “Electrical Safety—Unqualified Worker.” This training session is designed for unqualified workers, such as machine operators, powered industrial truck operators, and construction workers, about electrical hazards. Additional training is required for qualified workers who are authorized to work on or […]

Form I-9s—Still a Hassle and Audits Are Heating Up

Immigration is a hot issue, and that means increased scrutiny of Employment Eligibility Verification Forms (more commonly known as a Form I-9). Attorney Roger Tsai clarified employer responsibilities at BLR’s Advanced Employment Issues Symposium held recently in Las Vegas. IRCA’s Requirements The Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (IRCA) requires every employer to complete […]

What is a return-to-work program?

Looking for a way to keep your workers’ compensation costs in check? What about getting injured employees healed and back as quickly as possible? What if all of these goals could be met with a return-to-work program? Would you be interested?

Early Settlement May Prevent Collective Actions?

Collective wage/hour suits can turn relatively small and inexpensive problems into very large and very expensive ones, but there may be a technique that makes the collective action moot, says Attorney Deanna Brinkerhoff. In Genesis Healthcare Corp. v. Symczyk, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that, at least in this case, action by the employer to […]

Devil Is in Details of Final Mental Health Parity Rules

Pre-authorization procedures, plan disclosures and geographical restrictions are just a few features  group health plans will need to re-examine by the time the recently finalized mental health parity rules take effect. For calendar-year plans, this means Jan. 1, 2015 — less than a year away. The interaction of the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity […]

Training Experts Say Drastic Changes Coming in 2014

Major changes in the workplace will occur in 2014 as “old-school” management protocols and practices give way to fast-moving, as well as more productive and more satisfying, models for engaging employees, according to Fierce, Inc., leadership development and training experts. The insights and predictions are based on Fierce, Inc.’s training experiences with organizations ranging from […]

Free Coverage for 11 Months Eliminates Need for COBRA Notice Penalties, Court Rules

Due to an administrative error, an employer clearly did not provide a qualified beneficiary with a COBRA election notice. However, the qualified beneficiary also benefited from that mistake by receiving 11 months of free health coverage. For that reason, a federal district court in Iowa rejected claims that the employer should be subject to COBRA […]