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State-by-state 2012 short-term child-care leave laws

07/14/2012

The federal FMLA doesn’t cover employees who take time off for school visits or to care for kids who aren’t seriously ill but who must stay home from school. Some state laws do. The chart below summarizes state short-term leave laws.

8 flex trends that will affect your company

06/18/2012

As more organizations allow em­­ployees to adjust their schedules and telework, it puts pressure on other employers to offer the same flexibility—or lose out when it comes to recruiting and retaining quality workers. A recent study of employers’ workplace flexibiliity practices uncovered eight trends you need to understand.

Think employee is committing leave fraud? Feel free to discipline–and document why

06/04/2012
If you suspect an employee is abusing your generous sick and disability leave benefits, consider cracking down on fraud. As long as you can document that you made a good-faith decision to punish leave abuse, a court won’t second-guess your actions.

What recourse do we have if employee repeatedly misses work on Mondays?

05/24/2012
Q. How can we handle an employee who routinely uses vacation and sick time on Mondays?

What should we do if we suspect employee is engaged in workers’ comp fraud?

05/24/2012

Q. While on unpaid leave, one of our employees applied for and was granted workers’ compensation. This person has not expressed any interest in returning to work. We think she may even be working somewhere else. Can we terminate her?

How does PTO affect terminations?

05/18/2012

Q. We are considering replacing sick leave and vacation benefits with a paid time off (PTO) program. How are these plans treated upon the termination or resignation of an employee?

Unused leave takes a bite out of municipal budgets

05/10/2012
It’s a benefit designed to retain long-term employees, but the practice of allowing retiring government ­workers to cash out unused leave may turn in­­to an actuarial time bomb. The prob­­lem: Local governments are shedding employees at a record pace, often through early-retirement packages. And the leave liability is largely unfunded.

What are the Texas voting leave rules?

04/30/2012
Q. Must we give our employees time off to vote? If so, must we pay the employees for the time they spend voting?

Sabbatical allows charity row from Miami to New York

04/20/2012

When qedis employee Lewis Colam wanted three months off to row a boat from Miami to New York to raise money for Alzheimer’s research, the company not only pitched in as a sponsor but gave him a sabbatical for the trip. Executives at the London-based management and technology consulting firm say they try to support their employees’ dreams.

How should we manage unused vacation?

04/19/2012

Q. Several of our employees have compiled a lot of vacation time. Is there any way we can manage how much vacation leave time our employees accrue?