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Compensation & Benefits

Military Family Leave: New employee rights under the FMLA

09/02/2008
On Jan. 28, 2008, President Bush signed into law H.R. 4986, the National Defense Authorization Act, which grants new leave rights to employees with family members in the military. Because the NDAA amended the FMLA—not USERRA—the changes apply only to employers with 50 or more employees …

Calculating overtime when the workweek doesn’t correspond to pay periods

09/02/2008

Q. We pay our workers every two weeks. How should we calculate overtime? …

How to comply with Colorado’s 3 newest workplace laws

09/02/2008
The Colorado Legislature passed several laws during the most recent legislative session that will directly affect Colorado employers, and more changes may be on the way. HR professionals need to update workplace policies and procedures to comply with these new worker rights and employer obligations …

What’s up in Washington: Minimum wage, child labor penalties

09/02/2008

Two key federal laws have changed, affecting how employers handle wage-and-hour issues. A new federal minimum wage went into effect in July, and civil penalties for child-labor law violations increased in May. Here is a summary of each development …

Do employees have to take meal and rest breaks?

09/02/2008
Q. I know Colorado requires employers to provide unpaid meal breaks and paid rest periods. But what if an employee is offered the meal period or rest period and prefers to continue working? Is that permitted? …

Salaries for ’09: Flat raises, more performance pay

08/28/2008
Despite the economic gloom dominating the headlines, three new national salary surveys predict that U.S. employers will generally hold salary increases steady in 2009. The surveys predict that employers will award average pay increases at or near 3.8% next year, nearly identical to raises given during 2008 and 2007. But smart employers aren’t handing out 3.8% across the board …

In which city is compensation the highest?

08/28/2008
Employers in the San Francisco/San Jose area pay their workers, on average, 19% above the national average, according to a new U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics survey. Other top cities: New York City (15% above); Salinas, Calif. (14%) …

Proving the ROI of wellness programs just got easier

08/28/2008

Every employer seems to be jumping on the wellness bandwagon in an effort to curb health care costs. But it’s always been hard for HR to prove its wellness investment is worth it. Reason: the inability to nail down a return on investment (ROI) on wellness programs. Now, a host of new approaches and tools have come to the rescue …

Cell phones, laptops and BlackBerrys: Understand the liability risks

08/27/2008

Before you hand out cell phones, laptops and BlackBerrys to everyone on your staff, understand that such tech tools may expose your organization to legal liability. Two legal minefields are particularly worrisome …

How should we pay for weekend travel time?

08/27/2008
Q. How do we pay hourly employees who are traveling on a day that’s not considered a workday, like Saturday or Sunday? What if they normally have a 10-minute commute to the office but instead they have to go to the airport, and the airport is an hour from their homes? …