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Compensation & Benefits

Encourage use of generic drugs by waiving co-pay

12/01/2005
To persuade employees to switch from expensive brand-name prescription drugs to generics, some employers are eliminating co-payments for generic drugs. Others are waiving the first two or three months of generic …

Set separate notice rules for FMLA and regular absences

12/01/2005
Your organization can (and should) establish clear rules for whom employees should contact if they need time off. Those rules can specify one contact person …

You can request new certification at the start of each ‘FMLA year’

12/01/2005
A new Labor Department opinion letter clarifies that you can require employees to provide new medical certification, not just recertification, for their first FMLA absences in a new “leave year.”

More employers are telling sick workers to stay home

12/01/2005
The problem of presenteeism, when employees come to work even though they’re sick, is an increasing concern for U.S. employers, according to a new CCH survey. Nearly half (48 percent) of …

Request certification at start of each FMLA year

12/01/2005
A new Labor Department opinion letter makes clear that you can require employees to provide new medical certification, not just recertification, for their first FMLA absences in a new “FMLA year.” …

Set clear rules on employee credit card use

12/01/2005

Q. I work for a nonprofit agency, and we plan to start using an agency credit card. But we also need a policy that covers who can use the card and when, plus some other things I haven’t thought of yet. What should the policy include? —M.M., Pennsylvania

Supreme Court: Pay employees for certain ‘walking time’

12/01/2005
Issue: Must you pay employees for time spent changing into protective gear and walking to (and from) their workstations?
Benefit/risk: The Supreme Court finally answered this long-running question, but the …

New Roth 401(k) option kicks in Jan. 1

12/01/2005
Starting Jan. 1, employers can offer Roth 401(k)s, which are a hybrid of the basic 401(k) plan and the wildly popular Roth IRA accounts. With Roth 401(k)s, employees invest taxed dollars …

Look at employees’ duties, not titles, to decide exempt status

12/01/2005

Issue: Many employers believe that anyone with a "manager" title is automatically exempt from overtime. Risk: Making such misclassification mistakes can cost thousands in back pay and penalties, plus a black mark on your record …

Unions: Brace for renewed organizing in wake of union rift

11/01/2005
THE LAW. The 1935 National Labor Relations Act gives employees the right to organize, bargain collectively and strike. In the 1940s, Congress
tried to correct union abuses of power by …