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Compensation & Benefits

Fighting a unionization effort: do’s and don’ts

03/01/2006

Union membership has fallen dramatically in recent decades, but the labor movement is far from dead. The biggest change: In 2005, the breakaway "Change to Win" movement seized control over one-third of the powerful AFL-CIO’s unions. Change to Win lured the unions away by promising to shift the focus from political activism to organizing as many U.S. employers as possible. Is your business next? …

Play it smart by aligning yourself with the CFO

03/01/2006

Corporate pressures now call for closer ties between HR and top finance. Winning the CFO as an ally can help earn funding for HR projects, and your strategy smarts will draw attention. Take steps to cultivate the relationships and learn the numbers he or she thrives on …

Take Employees’ Pulse With Low-Cost Online Surveys

03/01/2006

Web-based surveys let you collect employee feedback on everything from benefits to where to hold the holiday party. Online surveys are cheaper and easy to administer. Here are some of the best online survey sites …

Who pays the tax on gift cards given to employees?

03/01/2006

Q. We plan to give gasoline gift cards to employees as incentives for picking up additional shifts. Are these cards taxable? Can we, the employer, simply pay the employee’s portion of the taxes? —T.M., Pennsylvania

More States Push Workplace Conscientious-Objector Laws

03/01/2006

State legislatures in about 20 states are actively considering legislation that would provide new legal protections to health care employees who refuse to provide care that conflicts with their personal beliefs …

EAP phone therapy is legit, but choose vendors wisely

03/01/2006

EAP-provided telephone counseling is controversial but becoming more common. Still, quality varies among vendors. Screen potential teletherapy providers carefully using the following six questions …

Medication may limit employees’ FMLA reinstatement rights

03/01/2006

What happens if an employee tries to return to work after FMLA leave but isn’t quite recovered? In that case, you can turn the employee away if he or she can’t perform the job’s essential functions. That scenario often plays out when the returning employee’s job involves operating machinery or driving and the person must take medication …

Can you deduct overtime from bank of FMLA hours?

03/01/2006

Q. Can an employer deduct or count overtime hours from an employee’s FMLA balance? Our employees work overtime only from October through December. During that time, they’re required to work 12-hour days, seven days a week. We have several employees on both continuous FMLA and intermittent leave, and we’d like to deduct the overtime hours they would have worked from their FMLA allotment. What do you think? —J.A., Nebraska

Fitness-for-Duty Letters Trigger Instant Reinstatement

03/01/2006

Must you allow an employee to return after FMLA leave if you don’t think she’s physically ready? She could injure herself if she returns. But if you block her return, you could face a failure-to-reinstate FMLA lawsuit. Begin the return-to-work process earlier to see if she still has the ability to perform the job’s essential functions …

Lesson of IBM overtime suit: Clarify exemption status

03/01/2006

IBM faces the possibility of multimillion-dollar legal damages if a court grants class-action status to a pending FLSA lawsuit …