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Compensation & Benefits

There’s getting hurt … then there’s the fear of getting hurt

10/27/2008

Here’s a tale of workplace terror so harrowing that one of the characters even used a pseudonym when he filed for workers’ comp … for injuries he had yet to receive.

New laws promise reform of N.J. workers’ compensation system

10/27/2008

New Jersey’s workers’ compensation system will be tougher on companies and employees who try to “game the system,” Senate Labor Committee Chairman Paul Sarto told A.M. Best Company, which rates the stability of government bonds and other financial instruments.

State employee benefits cut

10/27/2008

Gov. Jon Corzine signed into law a new benefits package for state employees that raised the retirement age from 60 to 62 and increased the minimum salary workers must earn before being eligible for pension benefits. Now state government employees must earn at least $7,500 per year to qualify for a pension. The previous minimum was $500.

Pay and benefits concessions keep paper from folding

10/27/2008

Wage freezes and other employee concessions negotiated in October brought New Jersey’s largest newspaper, Newark’s The Star-Ledger, back from the brink of a sale or possible bankruptcy.

Just taking leave doesn’t mean employee is disabled

10/27/2008

Employees ask for and take medical leave for all sorts of reasons. That doesn’t mean their employers know when an employee is disabled. But that doesn’t stop some employees from trying to use their leave as evidence in a discrimination lawsuit …

Resolve to fix classification mistakes now

10/27/2008

Few HR mistakes can blow up faster than the simple misclassification of a nonexempt employee. A single FLSA classification error can easily become an attorney’s meal ticket, as well as an employer’s ticket to the poorhouse. Prevent this costly calamity by regularly reviewing your positions to make sure you have properly classified everyone.

Rutgers poli-sci department is old school, women claim

10/27/2008

Five female faculty members at Rutgers University in New Brunswick have filed a complaint with the state Attorney General’s Office, alleging bias in pay and decision-making in the Political Science Department.

Beware bigger penalties for wage-and-hour claims under N.J. whistle-blower law

10/27/2008

Employees and their lawyers are always looking for more ways to wring money out of employers that make mistakes. The latest trend in wage-and-hour cases, for example, is to file an FLSA lawsuit and then seek to collect additional damages by tacking on additional claims under New Jersey’s Conscientious Employee Protection Act. Here’s how …

If we have to lay off employees, is severance pay mandatory?

10/24/2008

Q. Our company is about to have a layoff. Are we required to pay severance to the employees we lay off? …

Teachers do the math, find their bonuses came up short

10/24/2008

North Carolina teachers reporting to school this fall found their state-awarded bonuses cut by 30%. Hundreds appealed to state Sen. Steve Goss, a former teacher, for help.