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3 Key Questions for Best Practice Wellness

In yesterday’s Advisor, attorney Francis Alvarez discussed legal risks of wellness programs. Today, practical considerations and an introduction to a popular wellness guide. Each organization has to decide for itself where it belongs on the wellness/risk continuum, says Alvarez, a partner in the White Plains, New York, office of national employment law firm Jackson Lewis. […]

Workers’ Compensation Claim for Mental Stress Allowed

By Derek Knoechel and Lorene Novakowski Canadian provinces have workers’ compensation legislation that provides a no-fault system of compensation for injuries suffered on the job. The system covers lost wages, medical aid, and rehabilitation for the injured worker and generally removes the injured worker’s ability to sue the employer. The workers’ compensation system is funded […]

Will Congress Require Paid Sick Days for Flu?

Congress Members Introduce More Paid Sick Leave Legislation – November 18, 2009 A U.S. House committee is set to consider a bill during the week of November 16 that would temporarily require employers to provide paid sick days for employees sent home or told to stay home from work because of the flu. U.S. Representative […]

News Notes: SF Tells United Airlines To Offer Domestic Partner Benefits

If United wants to fly to San Francisco, it may have to comply with the City’s controversial new domestic partners ordinance, warned a Board of Supervisors committee. In December, the Board voted to do business only with contractors who provide their employees with domestic partner benefits. (See CEA December 1996.) United does not currently do […]

DOL Issues Final Rule Extending Fee Disclosure Timetable

It’s now official: The effective dates regarding fiduciary and participant fee disclosure regulations for retirement plans have been extended. The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has issued a final rule (which becomes effective July 15) providing that: Fiduciary-level Fee Disclosure Regulation: The effective date for the interim final rule is extended from July 16, 2011, […]

Terminations: What Should We Cover When We Conduct a Termination Meeting to Fire a Poor Performer?

One of our employees isn’t working out. His sales have been consistently low, he has trouble meeting deadlines, and he doesn’t interact well with clients. We’ve decided to let him go. What should we cover when we meet with him? Thank you. — Maryanne P., Santa Monica   Mishandling a termination meeting could lead to […]

Wellness Plans Discriminate, Union Official Says

Wellness benefits have exploded in the past decade because they purportedly make employees healthier and save employers money, but they have found a detractor in at least one labor union.  John Borsos, secretary-treasurer of the National Union of Healthcare Workers, told reporters in Washington, D.C., Dec. 17, that wellness programs are a $6 billion industry […]

Illinois same-sex marriage law will spawn employment issues

by Steven L. Brenneman On November 5, both houses of the Illinois General Assembly passed a bill legalizing same-sex marriages. Governor Pat Quinn is expected to sign the bill into law. If he does, it will take effect in June 2014. The new law will affect Illinois employers in several ways. Regarding employee benefits, employers […]

Dealing with Difficult People

Employment law attorney Michael Maslanka reviews the book Dealing with Difficult People, from the Results Driven Manager series published by Harvard Business School. Review covers three of book’s best tips for managers for dealing with employees. Ever see those business book paperbacks in airport concession stands? You know, the ones in the metal racks that […]