Author: HR Daily Advisor Staff

Loss of COBRA Eligibility Due to Union Lockout Deemed Labor Rights Violation

Typically, interference with an employee’s COBRA coverage rights raises legal claims under ERISA; however, employers should take heed that in some instances other federal laws are invoked. Recently, an employer was found to have violated federal labor law when it engaged in an unlawful lockout of union employees that included the cancellation of their health […]

Managers Think It’s All About the Money (Employees Disagree)

Special from the Advanced Employment Issues Symposium, Las Vegas When employees and their managers are asked about what they value at work, the answers are surprisingly different, says consultant Andrew Botwin SPHR. That disconnect will result in expensive turnover. Botwin, who is CEO of SPC (Strategy People Culture) Consulting, offered his engagement tips at BLR’s […]

Reform’s PCORI Fees Must Be Paid for Retiree-only and COBRA Plan Members

Employer sponsors of health plans must count members in retiree-only plans and COBRA-eligible plans for purposes of paying into health reform’s Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute. Furthermore, employees covered under two or more “specified” policies can be counted (and taxed) more than once. The IRS final rule on employer payment of PCORI fees disregarded employer requests to exclude […]

Use Employee Surveys to Measure Engagement with Training

The answer to the question of how to motivate and engage employees is locked away in the employees, and in their values, beliefs and needs. Each of us has a unique set of motivational drivers. Unless a leader can align with these, it will be difficult to motivate and engage employees over the long term. […]

Making the Pitch for Your 2013 Compensation Plan

Csizmar, who is founder and principal of CMC Compensation Group, offered his tips at a recent webinar sponsored by BLR. Start with your compensation strategy. Says Csizmar. You have to insure that what you recommend is in line with the company’s compensation philosophy. Take into account management bias. Yes, every company has biases, Csizmar says. […]

Common Control Means COBRA’s Small Employer Exception Does Not Apply

Here’s a reminder that for COBRA compliance purposes, small employers must count their employee population differently if they are under common control. Recently, an employer was sued for providing just three, rather than 18, months of COBRA coverage. Because it had a workforce of fewer than 20 employees, the employer tried to fend off those […]

Final pay rules in California: Understanding the waiting-time penalty

What is the waiting-time penalty? Under California Labor Code Section 203, employers will be assessed a penalty for any willful failure of on-time payment of any part of final wages due to a departing employee. Remember that wages earned are due and payable immediately upon discharge for involuntary terminations. For resignations with at least 72 […]

California Pregnancy Regulations Revised

The state Fair Employment and Housing Commission has just announced the approval of changes to the state’s pregnancy regulations. The changes go into effect on December 30, 2012. They make significant changes to the existing law, including:

2012 Survey Highlights–Pay, Policies, HR, Leave, Holidays

In today’s Advisor, we’ll do our annual summary of our 2012 survey results—a good time to check your practices against those of thousands of other employers around the country. Pay Budgets 2.5 to 3 Percent Our survey revealed that most employers offered modest pay increases in 2012 and will do so again in 2013. In […]