Practical HR Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
Companies that self-fund health benefits are larger than companies that fully insure health benefits and their solvency is just as good as companies that fully insure, a government report required by the health reform law indicates. The reform law requires reports on the prevalence, solvency and quality of self-funded plans, with the stated goal of […]
Fiduciaries of 401(k) plans were reminded by a recent court decision that it’s best not to accept financial consultants’ investment advice for a retirement plan’s assets without careful scrutiny. At the same time the case, which raised other issues important to managing defined contribution plans, resulted in several rulings in the plan sponsor’s favor. Facts […]
Knowing how to perform a job properly includes knowing how to do it safely. To protect themselves and their coworkers, new employees have to get to know their jobs inside out. In fact, OSHA requires it. The General Duty Clause says that employees must “comply with occupational safety and health standards” and all OSHA rules […]
Yesterday’s Advisor reviewed how to calculate the “regular rate” of pay. Today, can you waive overtime rights, plus an introduction to BLR’s unique 10-minutes-at-a-time training system. Here are some little-known facts about overtime. Actually, it’s not so much that they are little known as oft ignored. Agreements to Waive Overtime Barred Employees may neither waive […]
Payroll records are records that show the compensation information for all your employees. The California Employment Development Department (EDD) requires that records must provide a true and accurate account of all workers employed, no longer employed, on a leave of absence, and independent contractors.
Too often, orientation training is considered a necessary evil. It’s not given sufficient attention by some employers, who see the time employees spend in orientation as lost production rather than as an investment in safety and protection. For their part, new workers are frequently bored and distracted during tedious “talking head” sessions. Even if they […]
Recently, four bills were introduced in state legislatures that would make self-funding less attractive by limiting stop-loss coverage for self-insured health plans. Many such proposals would raise minimum specific deductibles above the standard $20,000 seen in most enacted laws. This and other measures are intended to rein in self-insured plans, observers in the self-insured industry […]
Have you ever had a coworker who just loved to decorate the workspace? How did they decorate their space? Typically it’s sports paraphernalia, travel memorabilia, kids’ drawings, etc., but a few take it a bit further. In a recent survey, The Creative Group asked advertising and marketing executives to describe the strangest or most surprising […]
If you’re a Twitter user, you’ve probably seen a few Tweets from disgruntled workers. From ranting about the boss to complaining about pay, Twitter, like other social media sites, is becoming an area where employees feel comfortable complaining about anything work-related. The problem—Twitter is a public social media site. A new app, FireMe!, is collecting […]