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Compensation & Benefits

What to do about employee who takes long leaves for medical problems?

05/23/2008
Q. We’re a small business with eight employees. One employee frequently takes off for six to eight weeks with medical problems. She’s done this each year for the past three years. It’s a huge burden because very few people have her training, so we can’t hire a temp. How long do we have to allow her to disappear for weeks at a time?

Warn employees: No FMLA certification, no excused absence

05/23/2008
If employers take a lackadaisical approach to medical certifications, they might be issuing an invitation to abuse FMLA leave. Remind your employees that they must provide FMLA certifications—and that refusing to cooperate will result in the time off being counted as unexcused absences. The consequence: possible termination …

Employee has used all FMLA leave? Assess disability status before terminating

05/23/2008
The FMLA entitles employees to up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave to deal with a serious health condition. That doesn’t mean, however, that you should immediately terminate an employee who can’t return to her job right away. That could violate the ADA …

Keeping employee’s performance up during a divorce

05/22/2008

Q. “One of our employees is going through a divorce. She’s making more mistakes at work and is overly sensitive to constructive criticism. I think she needs a vacation—can we require it? Any suggestions on how to help her without sacrificing job performance?” …

Soaring gas prices boost interest in commuting assistance

05/22/2008
With gas prices climbing toward $4 a gallon, there’s more interest—among employers and employees—in commuter-assistance benefits and programs. Expect to become more involved in getting your employees to work …

Job conflicts are major cause of lost sleep

05/22/2008
Common job-related problems—such as conflicts with bosses or co-workers—are more likely to cause poor sleep than even long hours, night shifts or job insecurity. That’s the conclusion of a new University of Michigan study of 2,300 adults who were followed for a decade …

5 survival tips: Seek employee help to weather the recession

05/20/2008
It’s not easy for employees to hear that economic tough times mean they’re not getting a pay raise or that their jobs are in jeopardy. Having to deliver the bad news may be almost as hard. Here are five ways to make the most of a difficult situation—and invite employees to be part of the solution.

Were professors moonlighting across time zones?

05/19/2008
Two married professors at Georgia Tech are under investigation for fraud and theft after the university discovered they had taken jobs at the University of Minnesota (U of M) while continuing to collect paychecks from Georgia Tech …

Higher pay for LAX hotel workers as ‘Living wage’ law stands

05/16/2008
Hotels near Los Angeles International Airport will have to begin offering higher pay. The California Supreme Court has declined to review an appeals court decision upholding a city ordinance that requires the hotels to pay its workers the city’s living-wage rate …

Moonlighting may not disqualify employee from CFRA leave

05/16/2008
Do you have employees who work for you full time, but also work elsewhere part time? If so, a recent California Supreme Court decision may affect how you handle requests for California Family Rights Act (CFRA) leave …