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Compensation & Benefits

Tax credit helps small employers pay for health care

06/23/2010
The IRS has issued preliminary guidelines on the tax credit available to small employers that provide health insurance benefits to employees. Included in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the credit is one of the first health care reform provisions to go into effect. The credit is designed to encourage small employers to offer health insurance coverage for the first time or maintain coverage they already have.

Security check winds up costing Polo $4 million

06/21/2010
Former employees of Polo Ralph Lauren’s California stores have agreed to settle a wage-and-hour class action lawsuit for $4 million. The workers claimed store managers violated California’s labor laws by failing to pay them for time spent while they were locked in the store for 10 to 15 minutes at the end of each shift during security checks.

Can we apply a use-it-or-lose-it clause to our company’s vacation policy?

06/18/2010
Q. Our company’s employee handbook states that workers receive two weeks of paid vacation a year. Some of our employees have accrued significant amounts of unused vacation over the years. Can we require those workers to use their accrued vacation by a certain date or forfeit it?

California Supreme Court redefines ’employer’

06/18/2010
The California Supreme Court has ruled that California law on who is or is not an employee goes beyond the definition contained in the federal Fair Labor Standards Act and includes a broader measure of who is an employer.

Concern building over tax on ‘Cadillac’ health plans

06/18/2010

As a way to pay for the new health care reforms, a new excise tax on “high cost” health care plans is set to kick in Jan. 1, 2018. The tax will be 40% of a health plan’s annual costs that exceeds a certain threshold: $10,200 for individual coverage and $27,500 for family coverage.

Commercial pilots claim FAA retirement plan violates state law

06/16/2010
When Congress raised commercial pilots’ mandatory retirement age from 60 to 65, not all pilots were pleased. Pilots who had previously been forced to retire at age 60 weren’t grandfathered into the new system. Now the pilots are seeking back pay and lost wages under state laws and the Federal Tort Claims Act.

The HR I.Q. Test: June ’10

06/16/2010
Test your knowledge of recent trends in employment law, comp & benefits and other HR issues with our monthly mini-quiz …

37 ways to lower your health care costs

06/15/2010
Average employer-paid health benefit costs have increased about 6% per year for the last five years. At least in the short term, the new health care reform law may make the problem even worse. All the more reason to act now to get your health care costs under control. Here are 37 strategies worth trying.

Day care centers boost modest pay with big bonus

06/15/2010
For teachers who earn just $12 to $25 an hour, a chance to win a $10,000 bonus is a big deal. That’s how much CCLC Child Care Centers hands out yearly to each five teachers who win its “Educator Award.” The awards are a way for the Portland, Ore.-based organization to thank and encourage the modestly paid faculty of its 112 centers.

Make sure employees–and bosses and HR–know exactly how to call in FMLA absences

06/14/2010
Make sure your entire staff is on the same page when it comes to responding to FMLA requests. Decide on a contact person and set a policy that lets all employees know. Create a log for recording all incoming FMLA communications. Remember, certifications may come directly from medical providers, who are likely to use fax or mail delivery.