Author: Guest Contributor

Administration Proposes FLSA Coverage for Home Health Aides

By Liza Casabona In a long anticipated move, the Department of Labor today proposed extending coverage under the Fair Labor Standards Act to 1.79 million workers providing in-home care services to the elderly and infirm. Workers categorized as “companions” are currently exempt from the minimum wage and overtime protections of the Fair Labor Standards Act. […]

How to Calculate Hours Worked Under California Employment Regulations

California employment regulations often differ from federal regulations. Calculation of hours worked is no exception. In an ERI webinar titled “Wage & Hour Road Rules for HR: Travel Pay in California Explained,” Ron Garrity outlined the basic rules employers must follow when calculating hours worked and also gave some examples of how this differs in […]

Retaining Your Best Employees—Five Key Tips

The original talk was called “30 Ideas in 30 Minutes,” but we’ve culled the best fifteen ideas for readers. The panelists were: Andrew Botwin, head of Human Resources for accounting firm Rothstein Kass Kathy Brooks, VP of Employee Experience, Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Michael Burchell, Vice President, Global Business Development, The Great Place to Work […]

Retaining Employees—Five Key Tips

In yesterday’s Advisor, we found the first of the “15 tips in 15 minutes” from expert panelists at BLR’s Advanced Employment Issues Symposium. Today, more tips plus an introduction to a special product just for smaller or even one-person HR departments. The original talk was called 30 ideas in 30 minutes, but we’ve culled the […]

No Kidding: Chuck E. Cheese Fined for Child Labor Breach

The San Jose Mercury ran an interesting piece recently about a wage and hour audit at the family pizza chain, Chuck E. Cheese. You might recall from ads that the company boasts that at Chuck E. Cheese, a “kid can be a kid.” What the Merc tells us is, the Chuckster not only likes to […]

15 Ideas in 15 Minutes—Attract, Engage, Retain

The original talk was called “30 Ideas in 30 Minutes,” but we’ve culled the best fifteen ideas for our readers. The panelists were: Andrew Botwin, head of Human Resources for accounting firm Rothstein Kass Kathy Brooks, VP of Employee Experience, Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Michael Burchell, Vice President, Global Business Development, The Great Place to […]

A Holiday Wage and Hour Checklist: Are You Naughty or Nice?

By Jeff Gilbreth and Gauri Patil As the holiday season ramps up, many of us will be spending time with family and friends, attending holiday parties and preparing for another new year. While this is certainly a fun and joyous time, we are here to remind employers that various wage and hour pitfalls are lurking […]

15 Ideas in 15 Minutes—Attract, Engage, Retain

A much-appreciated session at BLR’s recent Advanced Employment Issues Symposium was a panel presentation during which panelists offered quick, real-world-tested ideas for attracting, engaging and retaining employees. The original talk was called “30 Ideas in 30 Minutes,” but we’ve culled the best fifteen ideas for our readers. The panelists were: Andrew Botwin, head of Human […]

Experts Explain Top 5 COBRA Implications of Reform’s Summary of Benefits and Coverage

One simple line requiring that group health plans and insurers describe “continuation of coverage provisions” in summaries of benefits and coverage (SBCs) actually raises several complex issues for COBRA administrators. The health care reform law requires that group health plans and insurers accurately describe in SBCs the benefits and coverage under the applicable plan or […]

Organizational Development? Start with the Janitor, says Al Gore

Challenge # 4: Organization Development [Go here for challenges 1 to 3.] Gore worked on the "reinventing government" program at the country’s largest employer, the US Government. He says the key to finding better ways of doing things is to start at the bottom. His teams met first with the janitors and worked their way […]