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Benefits on a shoestring: 8 tips

07/01/2008

Don’t waste your time and money offering benefits no one cares about. Review all your coverages. Conduct eligibility audits. Those are just some of the tips comp and benefits expert Gary Kushner has for HR pros eager to maximize the value and reduce the costs of the benefits they provide.

Employee benefits stable in ’08 despite slump

06/24/2008

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Providing extra leave after FMLA? You can set the rules

06/17/2008

If your organization is generous about extending leave beyond the 12 weeks of unpaid time off the FMLA mandates, take heart. You can and should set whatever requirements you deem reasonable for taking that extra leave. The best part: According to a recent 11th Circuit decision, you don’t have to abide by the FMLA’s reinstatement rules if employees have already used up their protected FMLA leave …

Don’t let tardiness influence FMLA leave

06/17/2008

Ann Weichman, an account underwriter at Chubb, was a pain to supervise because she was so frequently late for work. Then, a few days after Weichman took FMLA leave, she was late for nonmedical reasons. The company had had enough and fired her. She sued for retaliation and interference with her FMLA rights …

You don’t have to ask for FMLA certification for every absence

06/12/2008

Balancing business needs against employees’ legitimate FMLA rights is one of the hardest parts of managing absenteeism. Now there’s one less thing to worry about. A new case makes it clear that you don’t have to request an FMLA certification every time an employee calls in sick …

Does the Pregnancy Discrimination Act grant additional maternity leave?

06/12/2008

Q. We granted an employee maternity leave following the birth of her child—12 weeks of leave in accordance with the FMLA. Other than the FMLA, our company has no past practice or policy of granting leave (paid or unpaid) to employees except for their own medical conditions. Our employee claims that we will be discriminating against her because of her pregnancy and status as a new mother if we do not grant her additional leave time. I am aware of the Pregnancy Discrimination Act. Does it require us to grant our employee additional leave to care for her newborn? …

Pay for workers’ comp evaluation?

06/11/2008

Q. We have an employee who has filed a workers’ compensation claim. Our attorneys have asked the employee to go to our insurance company’s doctor for an evaluation. This will keep the employee away from work the whole day. Do we have to pay the employee for going to the doctor, or may we classify it as a personal day? …

Ask managers to set a good example … by going on vacation

06/06/2008

Your organization’s employees no doubt believe they’re entitled to take all the vacation days they earn. So why do they leave so many on the table? A new survey from travel site Expedia says 92% of employees embrace their rights to take their vacations, yet one of every three is “vacation deprived” …

Backup care: It’s not just for kids anymore

06/06/2008

Unscheduled absences can throw production into a tailspin. Often, those absences occur when an employee’s child care arrangements fall through. But increasingly, workers also must stay home to care for spouses or parents who need help after surgery or because a regular caregiver is unavailable …

Make sure handbook spells out maternity leave terms

06/04/2008

Is your employee handbook clear on exactly what constitutes maternity leave and how long it lasts? If you plan to permit just the 12 weeks allowed for pregnancy and childbirth under the FMLA, spell that out. Don’t refer to maternity leave separately and then provide a different week or month count …