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Compensation & Benefits

Can we refuse to hire member of National Guard because she lacks weekend scheduling flexibility?

05/14/2010
Q. Can we refuse to hire a qualified applicant who has told us her National Guard duty conflicts with some of the weekends she would be required to work? Employees in this job bid for rotating scheduled weekends under a union contract seniority system. The applicant’s schedule for Guard duty is not flexible.

Former exec sues over missed severance payment

05/14/2010

Tim Murnane left real estate development firm Opus Northwest in June 2009 after negotiating a $2 million severance package to be paid out over 10 years. Murnane took a new position with St. Louis-based Clayco Inc., another developer in the Twin Cities area. All was going well until March, when a scheduled $79,266 payment from Opus failed to arrive in Murnane’s mailbox …

Massive Walmart class action moves forward

05/14/2010

It’s the employment law case everyone is watching. A massive, long-running gender pay discrimination class action against Walmart has overcome another hurdle on its way to what could become the largest payout to employees in U.S. history. The plaintiffs—potentially 1.5 million women who have worked at 3,400 Walmart stores—got a victory in April when the full panel 9th Circuit Court of Appeals gave the go-ahead for the case to proceed.

 

Watch out when offering early retirement based on age

05/14/2010
The EEOC has won the first round of a battle against early-retirement incentive plans that are based strictly on age. If you have such a plan, make sure you review its legal status with your attorney.

Employee or contractor? Ask who controls the work

05/14/2010
Independent contractors aren’t eligible for unemployment compensation, and their clients don’t have to pay into the unemployment compensation trust fund, as the following case shows.

Never consider insurance costs when terminating

05/14/2010

Every year, employers face yet another increase in their health insurance premiums. And if there are many older or sick employees, those costs will keep on rising. Even adding one sick child to the list can drive costs into the stratosphere. But before you even consider firing (or refusing to hire) someone because they might jack up insurance costs, count your dollars, not your pennies. You might be staring down a lawsuit that could dwarf whatever premium costs you hoped to avoid.

What do employees want from their managers?

05/14/2010

Inspiring leader … Quiet problem-solver … Compassionate mentor. Different employees crave different things from their managers. Unless you’re a mind reader, it’s impossible to know exactly what your staff wants from you. But a survey of 500 U.S. employees—published in the book, What People Want, by Terry Bacon—reveals what matters most to workers.

4 ways to boost minority retirement savings

05/14/2010

If current demographic trends continue, employers in the future will have larger minority workforces—and see declining employee participation in retirement benefits plans. According to a recent study by the Employee Benefit Research Institute, only 28% of Hispanic employees and 41% of black workers take part in retirement plans. Use the following four strategies to increase minority employee participation in your retirement plan.

Got Milk? Understand the Link Between Federal & State Breastfeeding Laws

05/13/2010
As you may have heard by now, the new health reform law includes a provision to protect nursing mothers who choose to pump breast milk at work. But it’s important to realize that 24 states still have their own laws on this topic. And you must follow whichever law—fed or state—gives the greatest protection to the employee.

9 simple ways to improve your wellness program

05/13/2010
One side effect of the recession: Cash-strapped employees are eating more fast food, exercising less and ignoring their health, studies show. All the more reason to refocus your wellness efforts. Nine lessons from recent studies: