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In the 2000 movie Pay It Forward, a seventh grade social studies teacher gives his students an assignment to create and put into action a plan that will change the world for the better. Young Trevor McKinney, played by Haley Joel Osment, comes up with a plan in which the recipient of a good deed […]
Participation in high-deductible health plans and health flexible spending accounts grew at a strong pace, according to the National Center for Health Statistics. The findings in “Health Insurance Coverage: Early Release of Estimates From the National Health Interview Survey, January–March 2013” suggest that employees’ interests in consumer-directed health plans is growing, information employers may find useful in […]
Have you ever had someone encourage you to dream big or had someone say you could be anything you wanted to be? Maybe you were lucky enough to have a parent or grandparent who convinced you that there are no limits. Or maybe a teacher or coach inspired you to consider opportunities that otherwise might […]
The standard industry fare level rates that employers will use to calculate the value of trips taken aboard company aircraft during the second half of 2012 were issued Aug. 14 by the U.S. Department of Transportation. The rates have increased about 4 ½ percent from those that were in effect for the first half of […]
Eligibility for medical services at an Indian Health Service (IHS) facility does not disqualify an individual from being able to establish a health savings account (HSA) — but actually receiving such services can. That is what the IRS said in Notice 2012-14, which it issued on Feb. 1. The IRS said that individuals who are […]
When it comes to immigration enforcement, no employer is immune from immigration scrutiny. An organization that ignores problems with its procedures designed to keep a legal workforce is risking ruinous fines and penalties. Employers have an obligation to hire workers who are legally authorized to work in the United States. Even without the passage of […]
Sometimes it’s necessary to strip away all the preconceived notions about how to succeed in an industry, reshuffle roles, and take an untraditional approach to change things for the better. That’s even true—maybe especially true—in industries as steeped in tradition as winemaking. Typically, there are three groups involved in winemaking: The winemakers, The distributors, and […]
A Catholic church’s music director is a “minister” and therefore ineligible to bring employment discrimination claims against the Church, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled, implementing a new U.S. Supreme Court precedent. Phillip Cannata worked as the music director for St. John Neumann Catholic Church, part of the Catholic Diocese of Austin. He […]
An employee who claimed she was fired because her newborn daughter had a disability has been given the green light to sue her employer under the Americans with Disabilities Act. Karen Abdel-Khalek, who worked for Tenenbaum and Associates, Inc., gave birth to a baby with serious health problem. Several months later, while Abdel-Khalek was on […]
The Colorado Civil Union Act, which takes effect May 1, requires changes in employer-provided insurance plans and makes changes to the state’s workers’ compensation law. Effective for plans issued, delivered, or renewed on or after January 1, 2014, a party to a civil union may cover his or her partner as a dependent. Employers providing […]