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Rafting the Ocoee

Running the Rapids: Workplace Lessons from the Ocoee

Dan is busy working on his presentation for the Advanced Issues Employment Symposium so he decided to share this column written by business communications consultant Chip Cruze. by Chip Cruze Over the Labor Day weekend, my family and I went whitewater rafting on the Ocoee River. What a rush! Diving into those rapids in that […]

Finetuning ‘Fiduciary’ — DOL taking Another Stab at Definition

Thanks to President Obama’s executive order on revisiting federal regulations, and likely a flood of comments from the employee benefits community, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) is scratching its proposed rule on the definition of fiduciary and will be issuing a revised one in early 2012. In what likely could be considered an understatement, […]

Looking at the Basics of a 401(k) Plan

by Gary Jiles Q. How do I go about starting a 401(k) plan for my employees, and what are some of the general requirements? Keep up with the latest changes in laws regarding employee benefits with the Benefits and Compensation Law Alert. A. Choosing to offer a 401(k) retirement savings plan for your employees is […]

Wage And Hour: Employer Takes Big Hit For Not Paying Overtime To On-Call Workers; Practical Pointers

If you use on-call employees, it’s important to understand when you have to pay for their on-call time. In a recent case, an employer failed to properly compensate its on-call workers and was clobbered with a steep bill for two years of back overtime. We’ll provide guidance to help you determine when you must pay […]

Agencies Would Broaden Exceptions to Required Benefits

Employee assistance programs and certain “limited wraparound coverage” would be added to the set of “limited excepted benefits” exempt from most of the requirements of the Affordable Care Act, under proposed rules in the Dec. 24 Federal Register (78 Fed. Reg. 77632). The proposal also would make it easier for dental and vision benefits to […]

What Your Colleagues Think About Safety and Health Training

Here’s what your colleagues think about safety and health training: How effective is your safety training? 61%    Somewhat effective 29%    Very effective 10%    Not very effective at all How much of your training sessions involve hands on participation? 50%    Less than half of it 18%    All of it 18%    None of it 14%    More than […]

Saying Goodbye

It’s “déjà vu all over again” for this blogger, who already saw and wrote about tonight’s episode of The Office — both when it was being filmed and as it later aired. What then to post? Well, for good or ill, recent events in the broadcasting world have shed light on an important and recurring […]

Terminating Employees: New “Cal/WARN” Law Imposes Broad Layoff Notice Requirements

Gov. Davis has signed into law state layoff notice requirements similar to those in the federal WARN Act—but broader. We’ll explain what you need to know about the new state law, which we’ll call “Cal/WARN.” Federal WARN Coverage The existing federal WARN Act applies to employers with more than 100 workers. And notice under WARN […]

Training On Employee Meal Break Rules Can Help Avoid Legal Trouble

Supervisors who ask employees to perform work during unpaid meal periods could be putting their employer at risk for a wage and hour lawsuit. However, training can help educate supervisors about federal and state law regarding the compensability of meal periods and, in the process, minimize the risk of such lawsuits.