Short Takes: Bird Flu
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Feds Urge Employers to Prepare for Emergencies
The Department of Homeland Security, in partnership with the Advertising Council, has launched a campaign to educate small and mid-sized employers about engaging in emergency preparedness efforts to protect their employees, business operations, and assets. The program includes a website, http://www.ready.gov, with extensive information on emergency planning, including a sample emergency plan, emergency supplies checklist, […]
Baby Boomers Encouraged To Use Direct Deposit
It’s Misconception: The Poor Economy Didn’t Make Hiring Any Easier
There may be a tendency for your hiring managers, and even HR recruiting professionals, to take a more relaxed attitude toward the hiring process in view of the current state of the employment market and the fact that many people are out of work. Thinking that they have more time to make decisions, employment recruiters […]
News Notes: EEOC Approves Proposal To Exempt Retiree Health Plans From Age Bias Rules
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has approved a rule that would allow employers to reduce or cut retiree health benefits once a retiree becomes eligible for Medicare or a comparable state-sponsored health benefit—without violating the Age Discrimination in Employment Act. According to the U.S. General Accounting Office, 10 million retired employees age 55 and over […]
Voters in Six States Pass Minimum Wage Hikes
Californians, whose minimum wage just climbed to $7.50 an hour, aren’t the only ones seeing a boost in the minimum wage in the new year. During the November 7 elections held across the nation, voters in six states approved measures to raise their minimum wage rates. Ohio and Colorado voters approved increases to $6.85; Arizona […]
E-Alerts: Pension Reform: Blackout Period Rules Finalized
The U.S. Labor Department’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (formerly the Pension and Welfare Benefits Administration) has finalized rules for implementing a new federal law requiring 401(k) plans to give workers 30-day advance notice of blackout periods during which they can’t make transactions. The rules took effect on January 26, 2003.
News Flash: Bills Sent To Governor On E-Mail Monitoring And Personal Liability For Sexual Harassment Of Co-Workers
Our story on a host of important bill spending in the legislature. As we go to press a couple of them have already been passed and are now on the governor’s desk for approval. They include the legislation requiring employersto notify employees if their e-mail will be monitored (A.B. 1822) and the measure that would […]
News Notes: Study Finds No Increase In Workers Covered By Health Insurance
Despite the prosperity of the late 1990s, the number of workers covered by employer-sponsored health care insurance did not grow. The Center for Studying Health System Change found about three-quarters of people under age 65 were covered by employer-sponsored health care in 2001, the same as in 1997. In 2001, 75.6 percent of workers had […]
Definitions of ‘Fiduciary’ Will Soon be More ‘Economical’
Employers and plan administrators can have a better understanding of what a fiduciary is, courtesy of Phyllis C. Borzi, Department of Labor (DOL) assistant secretary for the Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA). She shed some light on the department’s thought process on this matter at the March 13 ERISA Advisory Council meeting. The DOL’s efforts […]