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Compensation & Benefits

Don’t punish employees for wrong drug-Test hunch

08/01/2005

Q. We suspected an employee was using drugs, so we sent him to be tested. We told him he couldn’t work until the test came back in two days. The results were negative. What financial responsibility do we have? Do we owe him lost wages for those two days? —L.B., North Carolina

Pay employees for their ‘pre-work’ work

08/01/2005
When employees arrive and prepare their workstations for the day ahead, does that count as compensable time? Yes, as one employer found out the hard way last month. Humana must pay …

Employees waste twice as much time as you think

08/01/2005
HR professionals assume that employees, on average, waste 56 minutes per day at work. But the truth is that U.S. employees admit to squandering more than two hours a day, says …

Totally disabled employees aren’t eligible for job accommodations

07/01/2005
Employees who ask for and receive disability benefits may sometimes also ask for workplace accommodations for their disabilities. In some cases, they may be entitled to both; in other cases, not. …

Overly aggressive defense tactics may backfire on you in court

07/01/2005
When defending an employment lawsuit, be careful about authorizing your attorneys to use exceedingly aggressive tactics. If your lawyer goes overboard, you may end up paying the other side’s attorney’s fees. …

Give employees a grace period to spend FSA dollars

07/01/2005
If you allow employees to pay for health- and dependent-care expenses through a tax-advantaged flexible spending account (FSA), you can now give them an extra 21/2 months to spend the money. …

Can favoritism amount to a ‘hostile’ work environment?

07/01/2005
As if there weren’t enough complications when co-workers are paramours, here’s another: Those who aren’t part
of the love affair feel slighted when
the bedded ones are promoted, and …

Salary increases to remain below 4 percent in 2006

07/01/2005
Salary increases will average only 3.5 percent this year and are projected to remain at the same level in 2006, says the Conference Board. For the third consecutive year, the Conference …

Maintain ties with laid-off employees

07/01/2005
Don’t just throw those fish back in the water, keep them on a line with smart moves. Examples: A financial firm created a tuition fund for laid-off workers, hoping they would …

Keep staff vacation schedules away from public view

07/01/2005
With summer-vacation season here, you may be tracking employees’ comings and goings using schedules posted on a bulletin board or online. But not everyone thinks so highly of publicly posted …