Practical HR Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
I have a question about determining the exempt or nonexempt status of our lowest-level managers. We think they are exempt, but we’ve read about some pretty expensive lawsuits and want to avoid that. We classify these employees as exempt, and they seem happy enough with that designation. Most of them are eager to move up […]
An employer-sponsored health plan was entitled to full recovery of more than $131,700 in funds, plus more than $149,000 in attorney’s fees, after it came to light that a plan participant and her attorneys tried to con the plan by lying about the size of a third-party settlement, the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals […]
Despite the healthcare reforms implemented under the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, 90% of employers are facing increases in the premiums they pay for employee health plans. And nearly 25% of employers are seeing rate increases in the double digits says a new survey by Arthur J. Gallagher & Company.
Employers have been on notice for more than a year that government safety officials are highly critical of employees using cell phones while driving. The practice is coming under even more scrutiny now that the National Traffic Safety Board (NTSB) has recommended a total ban on the use of cell phones and other such devices […]
Results of a recent survey indexing the attitudes of women in technology careers shows that women in tech careers are running into a number of obstacles in climbing the corporate ladder, which may be impacting their salary and long-term career trajectory. The more than 1,500 women responding to the survey indicated that what they would […]
Yesterday, we introduced the case of Frank Estrada—a volunteer police reserve officer in Los Angeles who received workers’ comp benefits after being injured on the job. Did these benefits turn him into an actual “employee” for purposes of a bias suit he later filed? Read on to find out.
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 […]
Here’s a case that will probably make employers feel great about their own compliance efforts. You know who you are: You train your new hires on all company policies, you have sparkling and oft-reviewed nondiscrimination, nonharassment, and nonretaliation policies, you conduct supervisory training early and often, and your folks know how to recognize potentially harassing […]
Modern medicine continues to increase life spans in the United States. Just as an example, the death rate for heart disease has dropped 60 percent in the last 50 years. The death rate for stroke has dropped even more, by 70 percent. And deaths from cancer have decreased 10 percent just in the last 15 […]
Back injuries are among the most common types of injuries: Nearly four out of five adults will experience a back injury at some point in their lives. Back injuries are also expensive, costing as much as $100,000 for a single injury, and time-consuming, keeping workers off the job for longer than the average work-related injury. […]