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White House, Organized Labor Reportedly Make Deal on ‘Cadillac’ Tax

The White House reportedly reached a deal with organized labor on Thursday over the controversial “Cadillac” tax found in the U.S. Senate’s health care reform bill. The original provision in the Senate’s Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (H.R. 3590) creates a tax on employer-sponsored high-end “Cadillac” coverage. Under the original provision, the tax would […]

Survey Looks at Workplace Stress

A  new survey reveals that even though 48 percent of U.S. employers acknowledge that employee stress caused by working long hours affects business performance, just 5 percent of them are taking steps to address the stress problem. The survey, conducted by global consulting firm Watson Wyatt Worldwide, also found that although 29 percent of employers […]

Yes, There Is a Strong Business Case for Flex

There’s now a business imperative for workplace flexibility, says Ellen Galinsky, and it’s showing up on the bottom line. In today’s Advisor, what’s changed and why you need to respond. Galinsky, president and co-founder of the Families and Work Institute in New York made her remarks at SHRM’s recent Employment law and Legislative Conference in […]

Obama Extends Benefits to Same-Sex Partners of Federal Employees

President Barack Obama signed a Presidential Memorandum on Federal Benefits and Non-Discrimination June 17 at an Oval Office event. The memorandum addresses the benefits to which same-sex partners of federal employees may be entitled and is a result of internal reviews conducted by the director of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and the secretary […]

Conflict Is Normal—The Way You Handle It Makes the Difference

“Frontline supervisors are terrified by the idea of conflict,” says Dennis A. Davis, Ph.D., “but [it] is a normal part of the work environment.” Fortunately, he says, careful management of conflict can be successful in reducing or eliminating it. When conflict festers, productivity suffers and the negativity spreads, Davis says. Unfortunately, without training, supervisors just […]

Nonreligious Firm Wins Enforcement Stay of Reform’s Contraceptive Mandate

A Colorado-based company that is not a religious organization got a temporary reprieve in complying with the Obama administration’s mandate that health plans cover contraceptives without patient cost sharing, under a new ruling from the U.S. District Court in Colorado. The reform requirement takes effect for non-grandfathered and non-religious employer health plans on Aug. 1. […]

Managers Think It’s All About the Money (Employees Disagree)

Special from the Advanced Employment Issues Symposium, Las Vegas When employees and their managers are asked about what they value at work, the answers are surprisingly different, says consultant Andrew Botwin SPHR. That disconnect will result in expensive turnover. Botwin, who is CEO of SPC (Strategy People Culture) Consulting, offered his engagement tips at BLR’s […]

What To Do About Employment “Brain Drain”?

A bunch of our most senior workers are preparing to retire in the next few years, and I’m frankly worried about what’s going to happen to our company when they’re gone. They possess years of experience and know-how that we have no idea how we’re going to replace, and new hires are harder and harder […]

Enforcement of DOL home healthcare rule starts November 12

by Judith E. Kramer November 12 marks the date the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) will begin enforcing regulations extending the minimum wage and overtime protections of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) to almost two million home healthcare workers who are employed by third parties and provide either companionship services or live-in care for […]