Most Popular

After-tax HSAs may help employers avoid paying the Cadillac tax

Plan design can help employer plan sponsors avoid the objectionable task of paying excise taxes on health plan coverage they provide to employees. The Cadillac tax is the Affordable Care Act’s way of taxing health benefits, in part to fund the law’s ambitious coverage objectives. As liability under the tax in 2018 approaches, employers are […]

Criminal records Checks? Be Ready to Defend Disparate Impact

Yesterday’s Advisor discussed criminal records and disparate treatment; today, criminal records and disparate impact, plus an introduction to the all-in-one HR solutions site, HR.BLR.com. Disparate impact occurs when: The employer’s neutral policy or practice has the effect of disproportionately screening out a Title VII-protected group and The employer fails to demonstrate that the policy or […]

5 Words Every Employer Should Say During a Job Interview

To their own detriment, 92% of employers focus on experience and ability when hiring employees. But experience and ability are all but irrelevant in hiring the best employees. In his latest book, The Five A’s of Great Employees, author, speaker, and workplace-cultural advisor Eric Swenson identifies the five most important traits of a truly great […]

Checking Up on Potential Hires

Yesterday’s Advisor provided a few tips for providing honest references about former employees while minimizing the legal risks to the company; today, we look at the flip side of the coin—checking references for potential new hires.

checklist

Things for which an HR manager should be thankful

by Richard Yurko The challenges facing HR managers can be daunting. Amendments to the law, new and changing federal and state administrative policies, and a diverse workforce all contribute to the difficulty of appropriately resolving employee issues. As we enjoy the Thanksgiving holiday, here are some things for which every HR manager should be thankful.  […]

Creating a Winning Atmosphere

I just spent a week in Cooperstown, NY, the home of the National Baseball Hall of Fame. No, I did not achieve my childhood dream of being inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame — I was there to watch my 12 year old play baseball at the Cooperstown Dreams Park. Cooperstown Dreams Park provides […]

Study Finds Fewer Women on the Path to Leadership Roles

McKinsey & Company and LeanIn.Org have released Women in the Workplace 2016, a comprehensive annual study of the state of women in corporate America. The study finds that women fall behind early and face ever-greater challenges the more senior they become. Women are less likely to receive the first critical promotion to manager—so far fewer […]

8 Strategies for Retaining Techies (and the Rest of Us)

Recruiting techie talent is all about understanding what they are looking for—and that’s true for recruiting any type of talent. In yesterday’s Advisor, we learned how retention gives a boost to recruiting; today, “techie” retention tips and an introduction to a unique new way to manage the first step of recruiting–job descriptions. Here are techie […]

Cancer

Financial, Productivity Challenges Face Workers Who Survive Cancer

As a group, cancer survivors (estimated to number 14.5 million in the United States in 2014) face greater economic burdens including medical expenditures and productivity losses. Survivors of cancer pay thousands of dollars in excess medical expenditures, and the extra costs vary by age and cancer site, according to a new American Cancer Society study.

Could IRS Dialogue With Governmental Plans Lead to More Draconian Retirement Plan Guidance?

The IRS and Treasury Department want to “initiate a dialogue” with the governmental plan community about how to better define when a retirement plan becomes a government plan, but while dialogue is good, will it result in burdensome regulatory requirements? On Nov. 8, the IRS and Treasury Department issued proposed rules on determining governmental plan […]