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Compensation & Benefits

Must small employers grant FMLA leave when an employee adopts a child?

01/14/2011
Q. I am an HR manager for a company with 30 employees.  One of my newer full-time employees who has worked here for just over a year tells me that she needs some time off because she is adopting a baby from Russia. Am I required to give her any time off for the adoption?

As Target goes urban, it expands employee assistance

01/14/2011
Minneapolis-based Target has contracted with a Chicago firm, ComPsych, to provide counseling to workers in several of the chain’s urban stores. The move is designed to help reduce turnover by teaching workers coping skills to deal with family and financial problems that may affect their work performance.

Employee out on FMLA leave? You can still insist on following call-in policy

01/14/2011

Some employees think that once they are approved for FMLA leave, they don’t have to follow the same rules as other employees when they’re away from work. That’s not necessarily true. In fact, employers are free to create call-in policies that require employees who are going to be absent to phone daily—and they can include employees on FMLA leave in that policy.

Let it snow: Fed workers can forget unscheduled leave

01/14/2011

Fewer federal employees will miss work this winter when the government shuts down because of snow. Under a new federal Office of Personnel Management policy, employees with existing telework agreements will be expected to work from home.

401(k) plans face year of rebuilding

01/12/2011

After two years of cutbacks, 2011 will be a year of rebuilding company-sponsored 401(k) plans—for both employers and employees. But the result could be more flexible, more customized retirement savings plans. Here is a roundup of recent research regarding your employees and their retirement savings plans.

Courts want proof employers did what they claim they did

01/11/2011
It was big news last fall when it became apparent that some bank representatives involved in home foreclosures never even examined the court affidavits they were signing. Judges are becoming more reluctant to accept such sworn statements in litigation—and not just in cases involving foreclosures.

Employees fired for missing work should expect to miss unemployment comp, too

01/11/2011
Employees who are guilty of misconduct aren’t eligible for unemployment compensation in Florida. That means if they’re fired for missing a lot of work, habitually arriving late or leaving early, they can be denied unemployment benefits.

Offer reinstatement if you make FMLA mistake

01/11/2011

The FMLA is a complicated law that can trip up even the most experienced HR professional. And sometimes it may not be apparent that an employee didn’t get the leave he was entitled to until after his lawsuit is in full swing. Fortunately, there’s still something you can do to cut the potential liability.

The HR I.Q. Test: January ’11

01/11/2011
Test your knowledge of recent trends in employment law, comp & benefits and other HR issues with our monthly mini-quiz …

New federal tax law delivers benefits changes

01/10/2011
When President Obama signed the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization and Job Creation Act of 2010 late last year, preservation of current tax rates and a one-year Social Security tax cut got all the headlines. But tucked into the broad statute were several provisions affecting employee benefits.