• The HR Specialist - Print Newsletter
  • HR Specialist: Employment Law
  • The HR Weekly

Compensation & Benefits

Reporting requirements under the Georgia Unemployment Compensation Program

12/01/2007

Q. Does Georgia law require employers to provide separation notices to employees who voluntarily resign from their jobs? …

Former employee working ‘Under the table’ can lose future unemployment benefits

12/01/2007

Former employees who collect unemployment sometimes work “off the books” while collecting payments. That’s illegal, of course. Those found to have violated the law by not reporting self-employment or casual labor may be banned from collecting unemployment in the future. They also will owe repayment. But unless the proper authorities know about the activity, nothing will happen …

Workplace genetic testing raises discrimination concerns

12/01/2007

Advances in genetic research have renewed attention on the workplace implications of genetic testing. Genetic research has many potential benefits. But there is growing concern that employers with access to genetic information may use it to discriminate …

Unemployment comp legit if threat of losing job compelled employee to quit

12/01/2007

Telling an employee you aren’t satisfied with her work and suggesting you will be looking for a replacement could mean she can quit and get unemployment compensation. You can’t push her to “look for another job” and then hope to avoid an unemployment claim by saying she voluntarily left …

Workers’ compensation can cover cosmetic surgery for injured employee

12/01/2007

Employees injured while at work are entitled to medical treatment to correct those injuries. It turns out that treatment can include cosmetic surgery …

Don’t risk double compensation—Make sure workers’ comp policy is in place

12/01/2007

Here’s a cautionary tale for Indiana employers that don’t carry up-to-date workers’ compensation insurance or that haven’t been approved as self-insured employers. If your policy lapses, you just may find yourself paying double for any work-related injuries …

TWC to share information on employment tax schemes with IRS

12/01/2007

The Texas Workforce Commission (TWC) recently agreed to tell the IRS about employers that fail to properly pay state unemployment insurance taxes. The TWC joins 28 other state work force agencies in entering the new initiative, which expands on existing data-sharing efforts between federal and state agencies …

Unemployment surplus means Texas employers get tax credit

12/01/2007

Gov. Rick Perry has announced that 370,000 Texas employers will receive tax credits next year because the Unemployment Compensation Trust Fund has amassed a surplus of approximately $376.7 million …

Don’t force FMLA leave unless health condition is serious

12/01/2007

The FMLA allows employers to designate time off as FMLA leave even if employees want to use other time off (such as vacation and personal days) to deal with serious health issues. But be careful—if the time off turns out to be for a health condition that wasn’t serious and you later deny FMLA leave because the employee has none in the bank, she can charge you with interference with her FMLA rights …

Beware informal policy on returning after pregnancy

12/01/2007

Many employers try to simplify medical leave policies by adopting the same eligibility requirements set by the FMLA. But those same employers sometimes make exceptions for select employees, especially if they are seen as too valuable to lose to a short medical leave. Watch out if that’s your informal practice. Denying that flexibility to pregnant employees probably violates the federal Pregnancy Discrimination Act …