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Compensation & Benefits

EAP hotline calls may trigger ADA, FMLA awareness

08/01/2006

Many employers offer employee assistance programs (EAPs) to help employees with personal problems. But be aware that if you communicate directly with counselors who take employees’ calls, you may trigger legal liabilities under both the ADA and the FMLA. That’s especially true if an EAP counselor suggests that the employee needs time off or some other accommodation …

Pay & perks drive satisfaction, but HR perceives differently

08/01/2006

What’s the most important factor in an employee’s job satisfaction? A new study says HR professionals and employees have completely divergent answers to that question …

Lessons from the 2006 SHRM conference: Do you really need to offer that employee benefit?

08/01/2006

Employee benefits are, in many cases, a lot like other pieces of an organization’s culture: They’re there because, well, they’ve always been there. But in these days of constantly rising health insurance costs, employers can’t afford to keep providing benefits just because that’s the way they’ve done things in the past, said Gary Kushner, president of Kushner & Co. benefits consulting firm …

Lessons from the 2006 SHRM conference: Green M&Ms and other little motivational tools

08/01/2006

Execs talk a lot about external threats to their organization, but they often overlook the elephant in the room: a tuned-out work force that isn’t giving 100 percent.

Most Fortune 500s Now Offer Domestic-Partner Perks

08/01/2006

As of June, 253 companies in the Fortune 500 (or 51 percent) provided health insurance coverage to employees’ same-sex domestic partners, according to a Human Rights Campaign survey …

Lessons from the 2006 SHRM conference: Cut hourly staff turnover by giving more frequent raises

08/01/2006

For nonexempt employees making below $15 an hour, it’s wise to set merit raise potential at twice each year, not just annually, said Sharon Koss, a compensation consultant in Seattle. Why? Hourly workers need a goal to shoot for and a reason to work hard. Waiting a year for a raise is too long.

Put a positive face on rising employee health costs

08/01/2006

With health insurance costs continuing to rise, you’ll likely have to tell employees (again) that they’ll shoulder more of the premium. Such news isn’t new for most employees. But they may be reaching the boiling point …

Generics account for more than half of prescriptions

08/01/2006

A new survey provides more incentive to encourage employees to buy generic prescription drugs. Generics now account for more than 50 percent of all prescriptions filled in the United States …

Firing employee on workers’ comp may be legal

08/01/2006

Texas law makes it illegal to fire an employee in retaliation for filing a workers’ compensation claim. But that doesn’t mean employees are untouchable just because they’re out on workers’ comp. You can legally discharge injured workers under a reasonable absence-control policy that applies to all employees, regardless of how they were injured or became ill …

Case study: Look closely at consultants’ motives

08/01/2006

The Texas Insurance Commission filed charges against consulting giant Mercer HR Consulting and its client, the Houston Independent School District, claiming the company had charged the school district $20 million since 2000 and then gave the district more than $800,000 in rebates …