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Compensation & Benefits

Obama’s last-ditch health care reform proposal would affect HR

02/23/2010

Ahead of this week’s summit between the White House and Congressional Republicans and Democrats, President Obama has released his last-gasp proposal for reforming the nation’s health care system. Several elements of the new plan could affect HR—if the proposal ever becomes law.

Form a benefits users group to help make better decisions

02/22/2010

Balancing the annual benefits budget is one of your most important tasks. Why go it alone? Get employees involved in the process of deciding which benefits to keep and which to ditch. Your best bet for engaging employees: Convene a team of workers to serve as a benefits users group. They can serve as a sounding board for employee concerns, and help you make benefits choices that will be widely accepted by other employees.

Home remodeling firm redesigns its benefits

02/22/2010

In the midst of the economic meltdown, the 30 employees of Legacy Design Build Remodeling in Scottsdale, Ariz., got their profit-sharing checks as scheduled at December’s holiday party. The bosses had sent a memo to employees before Thanksgiving with the news that the checks might not come this year. So the Christmas gift was a surprise.

Leave exhausted? Set strict standards for further absences

02/22/2010

Employers know they may have to accommodate disabled employees by granting additional time off. But what about employees who, although they aren’t disabled, still claim run-of-the-mill illnesses prevent them from working? You can and should set strict standards for further leave.

How to apply FLSA’s administrative exemption

02/22/2010

Employers that want to avoid paying overtime to white-collar workers often invoke the Fair Labor Standards Act’s administrative exemption. For the administrative exemption to be legitimate, all of the following must be true:

Don’t try to avoid OT pay by misclassifying technicians as exempt professionals

02/22/2010

If you classify some employees as exempt under the Fair Labor Standards Act’s professional exemption, make sure their jobs truly meet the criteria. Otherwise, you risk a potential wage-and-hour lawsuit for unpaid overtime.

Employees must be free to do as they wish during rest periods, meal breaks

02/22/2010

Under California’s wage-and-hour laws, employees must be completely relieved of their duties during rest periods and meal breaks. Employers can’t count downtime during work hours as rest and meal time.

$2.6 million lawsuit could clean out L.A. car wash

02/22/2010

As part of a wider crackdown on companies that violate worker protection laws, California Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr. filed a lawsuit alleging that a Los Angeles car wash, Auto Spa Express, failed to pay minimum wage and overtime to its employees and denied them workers’ compensation benefits.

Must we pay for unauthorized overtime?

02/22/2010

Q. Without authorization, one of our employees worked extra hours this week, even though we told everyone they needed approval to work overtime. Are we required to pay overtime for the unauthorized hours?

IRS explains how to legally fix deferred comp plans

02/19/2010

It’s fairly easy to make mistakes with complex deferred compensation plans that dish out compensation to employees at a future date. Good news: The IRS last month published new guidance to help employers comply with the rules, covered under Section 409A of the tax code.