• The HR Specialist - Print Newsletter
  • HR Specialist: Employment Law
  • The HR Weekly

Compensation & Benefits

I-35 bridge collapse hero takes retirement settlement

03/14/2011

Minneapolis Fire Department Capt. Shanna Hanson was off-duty when she heard of the I-35 bridge collapse in August 2007. Nevertheless, she grabbed her gear and dove into the Mississippi River in hopes of finding survivors. Television coverage of the disaster made Hanson a local hero. Now, accumulated injuries have taken their toll on the 19-year veteran, so she is taking a $113,000 workers’ compensation buyout and hanging up her fire helmet.

Equal Pay Act

03/12/2011

HR Law 101: The Equal Pay Act of 1963 prohibits employers from paying different wages on the basis of gender for “equal work on jobs the performance of which requires equal skill, effort, and responsibility and which are performed under similar working conditions…” Female employees must also receive the same level of benefits as their male colleagues …

Wellness program helps lower health premiums by 10%

03/10/2011
A North Carolina-based novelty manufacturer has lowered its employees’ health insurance premiums by 10%. The average savings for each employee: $1,000 a year. The company attributes the lower premiums to a three-year-old wellness initiative.

SC Johnson employees stick around for 14 years

03/07/2011

The average tenure of an SC Johnson employee is 14 years, a longevity marker the organization attributes to its employee benefits. Employees are offered child care, telecommuting, compressed workweeks, job sharing and fitness facilities.

FMLA isn’t carte blanche for all sick leave

03/04/2011

Some employees with chronic health conditions mistakenly believe that getting approved for intermittent FMLA leave means they can take protected time off anytime they feel ill. That’s simply not true. Intermittent leave can only be taken for illness, treatment or flare-ups directly related to a condition for which a health care provider has certified intermittent leave.

Make sure employee handbook supports compliance with leave laws

03/04/2011
Employers are generally free to develop their own internal policies, but many laws require employers to notify employees of those policies. Consider the case of Jones v. City of Atlantic City in which an FMLA dispute revealed that Atlantic City hadn’t updated its handbook in 13 years. In fact, the last update happened two months before the FMLA was signed into law.

New wage order means pay changes for hospitality employers

03/04/2011
New York employers in the hotel and restaurant industry have a new pay rule to work with, changing how tip income is handled and tweaking other details that affect how much pay workers take home.

Benefits 101: Understanding fundamental ERISA compliance

03/04/2011
The Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 sets minimum standards for retirement and health benefit plans in private industry. ERISA does not require any employer to establish a plan. It only requires those that do to meet certain standards. Complying with ERISA can be difficult because it is a complex law. There are three components to compliance:

Employees’ pockets picked while being frisked?

03/04/2011
Employees at Century 21 Department Stores in New York City and Long Island undergo searches every time they leave the store for breaks and at the end of the day. They say the process sometimes takes 15 minutes or longer. The problem: Century 21 makes them clock out first. Employees say that violates the FLSA.

What can employers opting out of workers’ comp do to minimize the threat of lawsuits?

03/04/2011
Q. My company is a nonsubscriber under the Texas Workers’ Compensation Act and has its own on-the-job employee injury benefit plan. Is there any way to decrease the likelihood of employees who receive benefits under the plan later suing the company and recovering damages related to their injuries?