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Compensation & Benefits

Can we take away accrued vacation leave?

12/01/2009

Q. Some of our employees have accrued large amounts of vacation pay because they have worked here for many years. Can we strip this vacation pay at the end of the year?

Beverage maker retains moms with range of flex benefits

11/28/2009

Three-quarters of the women employees who got promoted last year at alcoholic beverage maker Diageo had flexible work schedules, including job sharing, flextime, compressed hours and telework. Among all female workers at the company, half reduced their hours at some point during the year, and 60% used flextime.

Consult attorney to prep for unemployment comp hearing

11/25/2009

When challenging an unemployment compensation claim, talk to your attorney before the hearing. You don’t want anything you say at the hearing to be used later as evidence against you.

Are we on the hook for seasonal employees’ unemployment compensation claims?

11/25/2009

Q. If our company hires seasonal employees for the holidays and then releases them after the Christmas rush, will we be responsible for any unemployment insurance claims as the workers’ last employer?

Employers cut absent workers a little slack this year

11/25/2009

According to an online survey conducted by CareerBuilder.com, employers are not firing workers quite as often for faking illness to get a day off: 15% of employers fired workers this year because they faked an illness, down from 18% in 2008. It appears fewer employers have the time to check up on absent workers. So why are workers absent when they aren’t sick?

When religious needs conflict with schedule, shift swaps may be reasonable accommodation

11/25/2009

Many employers make it easy for employees to swap shifts if they consider their hours undesirable or inconvenient. Employers may do this by preparing the schedule well ahead of time and posting it where employees can easily see it. That makes it easy for management to know who is swapping with whom and to approve swaps arranged between employees. A shift-swap policy may also be all you need to win a religious accommodation lawsuit.

Open books show how staff aid firm’s success

11/24/2009

Every employee of Anthony Wilder Design/Build near Washington, D.C., has an educated opinion about the small firm’s finances—because the owners hired a coach to teach them about business finance. The firm’s founders have opened the remodeling company’s books to employees so they can see the bottom-line impact of their work and their decisions.

Is paid ‘paternity leave’ required?

11/24/2009

Q. I run a small company with fewer than 50 employees.  I was recently approached by a male employee requesting “paternity leave.”  Must I provide him paid or unpaid leave upon the birth of his newborn child?

What are my options? Employee’s on jury duty

11/24/2009

Q. One of my employees was called to jury duty and assigned to a lengthy trial. What are my obligations to this employee? Do I have to grant paid leave? May I permanently replace the employee if I cannot afford to hold the position open?

HR on Capitol Hill: Specter flips on same-sex marriage

11/23/2009

Arlen Specter, Pennsylvania’s senior senator, switched parties from Republican to Democrat in April, and now he’s changed his mind about the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). His support for pending legislation to repeal DOMA, which limits federal government recognition of same-sex marriage, could be crucial—and could affect HR.