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Compensation & Benefits

Arkansas ‘Race Across State’ Contest Promotes Exercise

09/01/2006

Employees from about three dozen public and private organizations in Arkansas are participating in a virtual race across the state as part of the Arkansas Fitness Challenge created by the state Department of Health and Blue Cross and Blue Shield …

California’s paid family leave law turns 2

09/01/2006

California employees are paying into a two-year-old paid family leave fund, yet only 29 percent know it, says a new study by the Paid Family Leave Coalition …

Survey: Fertility coverage won’t spike employers’ costs

09/01/2006

Ninety-one percent of employers that provide coverage for fertility treatment haven’t experienced a related increase in their medical costs, according to a new survey of 900 employers by Mercer Health and Benefits …

Pennsylvania to reduce unemployment taxes next year

09/01/2006

With the Pennsylvania economy doing well and unemployment down, the commonwealth has decided to reduce the amount that employers will have to pay into the unemployment compensation (UC) system in 2007. UC taxes on employers will decline by an estimated $158 million …

Do you carry the right insurance against employee lawsuits?

09/01/2006

Your company has employment practices liability insurance (EPLI), so it’s covered in case of any employee lawsuit, right? Not so fast. The fine print in an EPLI policy can turn an apparently strong lawsuit shield into a worthless piece of paper …

Will Maryland court ruling stop ‘Wal-Mart health care’ laws in other states?

09/01/2006

Wal-Mart won a major victory this summer in the continuing battle against state lawmakers who want to impose benefit mandates on U.S. employers. Only time will tell whether that victory discourages other state legislatures from pursuing similar actions …

Don’t push an employee toward disability leave

09/01/2006

Q. We have an employee (an officer at the bank) who was out six months with a heart condition. He has had performance problems on and off since then. He was hospitalized again with pneumonia and returned looking very bad, but his doctor says he’s fine to return to work.  We approached him about taking disability and SSI benefits, but he refuses. Now we face a morale issue because he constantly talks about his illness and his co-workers feel he isn’t performing. If we terminate him, what is the best approach? —C.T., N.J.

Does FMLA cover leave after relative dies?

09/01/2006

Q. One of my employees has been out on FMLA leave for seven weeks taking care of his sick father in another state. The leave was approved for a full 12 weeks. I received a voice mail from him saying that his father died. He also said that he had to clear up a lot of things with his father’s estate, but that he would be back by the end of his scheduled leave. Can he do that or can I tell him he needs to come back sooner? —V.S.

How to pay employee called in during PTO leave

09/01/2006

Q. We have a nonexempt salaried employee who normally works Monday to Friday and is paid biweekly. She took a week’s vacation, which would come from her PTO (paid time off) bank. We had a customer emergency and called her into work on the Saturday of her vacation week. How should she be paid? Should she receive her PTO pay but have eight hours less of it charged against her PTO bank? Should she be paid for eight extra hours, plus her week of PTO pay? If we pay her both PTO and eight extra hours, do we have to pay her overtime? —W.M.

Troopers Cite ADA and Privacy in Lawsuit Over Call-In Policy

09/01/2006

The Pennsylvania State Troopers’ Association has filed a lawsuit against the state police, arguing that troopers shouldn’t have to tell their duty desk the specific reason they’re calling in sick. The association alleges that the call-in policy violates the ADA because it may force troopers to disclose a disability …