Author: Stephen Bruce, PhD, PHR

Should You Strive to Know Less About Your Employees?

In yesterday’s Advisor, attorney Joseph L. Beachboard talked about the increasing threat of retaliations lawsuits.  Today, steps you might have to take, plus an introduction to the other great lawsuit preventer, the HR audit. Eric had Standing First, back to Eric from yesterday’s Advisor. The Supreme Court found that Eric, who was fired because of […]

Surrogate Mother Fails to Impose State Definitions to Make Plan Pay for Delivery

A plan participant cannot pick definitions from various state or federal statutes and impose them on an employer-sponsored health plan where the plan left terms undefined, if the plan applies a common and ordinary meaning to those terms when asked to justify a claims denial. Applying this rule, a Michigan appeals court affirmed a lower […]

Big Bang Theory of Pay for Performance

The Forces of ‘Sameness’ Many factors have created the strong pull towards sameness in compensation: Talent shortages in 1996-1999, 2004-2007 Greater availability of data More effective tools to manage data comparisons Regulations and government scrutiny (Why do you pay the way you do? The easy answer is we do it like everyone else, Kochanski says.) […]

The #1 Most-Easily-Prevented Lawsuit

Retaliation claims are on the rise, and it’s no surprise, says attorney Joseph L. Beachboard. They’re relatively easy to establish and they often pay off even when the underlying charge is not sustained—but they’re also easy to prevent. What makes retaliation suits so easy to bring? asks Beachboard, who is a shareholder in the Los […]

Free Compensation Report: Market Pricing Versus Job Evaluation: Why Not Both?

The Compensation Daily Advisor® announced today the release of a free report for compensation professionals, Market Pricing Versus Job Evaluation: Why Not Both?, which provides a strategy to help employers integrate job evaluation and market pricing tools. The exclusive special report examines the two tools in tandem – rather than as competing strategies. Market pricing […]

CLASS Dismissed: Health Reform Law’s LTC Program Tabled

I’ve read how, due to the cost of administering long-term care (LTC) insurance, some private-sector vendors are either revisiting that benefit  or jacking up premiums — partly because not enough people are signing up to sufficiently spread the risk, and costs, around. Well, the federal health reform law included a lofty goal of establishing a […]

401(k)s Under Assault — What Are Best Employers Doing?

For years, BLR® has surveyed HR and benefits professionals to find trends in benefits. We appreciate your participation in our monthly series of brief, targeted benefits surveys. Today’s survey topic: 401(k) Plans. (We’ll publish the results in a future issue.) Please participate in this brief survey and we’ll determine just how employers are handling their […]

OPM Extends FMLA Benefits for Military Families

Federal workers can now take up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave to make child care arrangements and address other issues that can arise when a family member is called to active duty in the U.S. Armed Forces. The new regulations, which took effect Oct. 1, will make it easier for federal employees to […]

401(k)s Under Assault — What Are Best Employers Doing?

By BLR Founder and CEO Bob Brady 401(k)s — whipsawed by the market and threatened by company budget crises. Every employer — and every employee — is concerned. So what are companies doing? Let’s find out what’s happening in the real world. For years, BLR® has surveyed HR and benefits professionals to find trends in […]

Premium Subsidy Extension Passes Congress

A bill that would extend premium subsidies for health coverage under the Health Care Tax Credit (HCTC) program has been passed by both the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate, meaning it’s on the way to President Obama’s desk. The HCTC was enacted as part of the Trade Act of 2002. As originally enacted, it […]