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Compensation & Benefits

Study: Employees’ ‘doctor shopping’ costs you big

05/10/2010
Injured employees sometimes go door-to-door seeking a sympathetic doctor who will provide a diagnosis to extend their workers’ comp benefits. A new Johns Hopkins University study shows how prevalent such “doctor shopping” is.

Can playing softball be working time?

05/08/2010
Question: According to the company grapevine, a couple of managers are pressuring their employees to attend and play on their softball teams at the company’s annual picnic. Would these employees need to be paid for this time?

Returning temps and the FMLA: What are our obligations as the client company?

05/06/2010
Q. A staffing agency has informed my company that a temporary worker who was previously assigned to us is returning from a leave under the FMLA. What are our obligations to this individual?

Lowe’s to offer free employee health screenings

05/06/2010
Home improvement giant Lowe’s is offering free health screenings to its employees. Lowe’s partnerships with health care providers throughout Texas mean employees will be able to get free checks of their blood pressure, total cholesterol, triglycerides, glucose, waist size, hip size, weight, height, body fat percentage and body-mass index.

Ledbetter timing applies to Texas cases, too

05/06/2010

Here’s a big new worry for Texas employers: Employees who want to sue over long-ago discriminatory pay decisions can do so within 180 days of the last discriminatory paycheck, at least according to one state appeals court. The 1st Court of Appeals has ruled that the federal Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act applies to discrimination cases under the Texas Commission on Human Rights Act as well as Title VII claims.

Health reform: Most employers will play, not pay

05/06/2010
The new health care law forces most employers to either provide employee insurance or pay a per-employee fine. Although the impact of the reforms is still not clear, more than two-thirds of employers (68%) say they disagree that their organizations would be better off dropping coverage and paying the fine.

5 tips to avoid this summer’s legal hazards

05/04/2010
Different seasons usher in different employment law risks. Employment law firm Fisher & Phillips offers this five-point to-do list to get ready for the coming summer months.

Tighten up your attendance policy or risk unemployment comp hit

05/04/2010

Here’s added incentive to have crystal-clear attendance policies: Employees who are terminated for violating unclear or confusing attendance rules may end up collecting unemployment compensation. Here’s why: In many states, former employees can successfully argue that they were terminated through no fault of their own if they can show that the attendance policy was difficult to understand and comply with.

Wellness program pays for itself at Simonton

05/03/2010

The nearly 2,000 employees who participated in Simonton Windows’ wellness program last year had such good results that the company was able to pay for its entire wellness initiative with the money it saved on health care. Simonton President Mark Savan says the program has reaped measurable improvements in employee health screenings for blood pressure, body mass index, smoking and cholesterol.

What is legal discipline for unauthorized overtime?

04/30/2010
Q. I know I can’t refuse to pay an hourly employee who works overtime even though I never authorized it. What I don’t understand is what kind of discipline should I implement? Can I, for example, deny a cost-of-living increase?