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What You Get from Givin’ Back

I’m in New Orleans for a two-day meeting of the Employers Counsel Network, a group of leading labor and employment attorneys from across the country who write the state Employment Law Letters and Federal Employment Law Insider. One of our members suggested that while in New Orleans we should volunteer with Habitat for Humanity. You […]

Nonreligious observance may require religious accommodation

by Maggie LeBato and H. Mark Adams Both federal and state laws prohibit employers from discriminating against employees because of their religion. The courts have further ruled that the prohibition against religious discrimination requires you to accommodate your employees’ sincerely held religious beliefs unless it would cause undue hardship to your business. You might assume, […]

New HHS website provides tips for accommodating lactating employees

by Kate DeForest A lesser-known provision of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) requires employers that are covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) to provide a private area for mothers to nurse or express breast milk during the workday. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is making the requirement known with […]

Effects of Overemployment Felt by Nearly Half of Employers

Experts and analysts have been talking about the low unemployment rate for quite some time while forecasting the consequent retention issues. A recent study by PayScale entitled Will They Stay or Will They Go? examined input from over 7,000 employees. What it found was that those issues are impacting organizations right now.

DOL Closer to Issuing New FMLA Regs

Update: New FMLA regulations issued by DOL on November 14, 2008 The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has sent to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) its final draft of revised Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) regulations, which could be published in the Federal Register this month. These would be the first new […]

Effective Wellness Programs Combat Worker Burnout

Seventy percent of U.S. office workers and managers report working more than 40 hours a week, and the majority consider the office the most productive place to get work done. But employers need to take action to ensure it remains an inspiring, motivating environment. This, according to the second annual Workplace Index conducted by Staples […]

EBSA: Deficient Work Tied to Auditors’ Size, Experience

Hiring an auditor with limited experience auditing benefit plans, or experience auditing only small plans … may cost plan sponsors. That conclusion can be drawn from a new assessment by DOL’s Employee Benefits Security Administration of audit quality after reviewing annual reports from 400 sample retirement plans of various sizes. The agency found a nearly […]