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Compensation & Benefits

Crank up retention efforts; 75 percent looking to jump ship

01/01/2005
If your organization’s turnover rate hasn’t picked up recently, it’s only a matter of time. That’s the message of
a new Society for Human Resource Management survey that says 75 …

Tread carefully when approving job-sharing arrangements

01/01/2005
Issue: Two employees ask to share one job: Should your organization approve it?
Risk/benefit: Job sharing can improve retention and boost morale, but it also can spark negative side effects. …

Best benefits can be found in the public sector

01/01/2005
Possibly to offset lower salaries, jobs in the nonprofit and government sectors typically come with richer employee benefits than similar private-sector jobs, according to a new Mercer HR Consulting study. It …

New employee perk: subsidized eco-car purchase

01/01/2005
Last month, California software firm Hyperion began offering
its employees $5,000 toward the purchase of gas/electric hybrid vehicles, such as the Toyota Prius or Honda Insight. The 1,500-employee company budgeted …

Workers’ comp leave doesn’t stop ‘FMLA clock’

01/01/2005

Q. An employee took FMLA leave Sept. 1 due to job stress. In October, she had an operation for carpal tunnel syndrome. Workers’ comp ruled that her absence was work-related and it dated her workers’ comp claim back to Sept. 3. So, they’re now saying that her FMLA leave won’t start until she is officially released from workers’ comp. Do we need to keep a job open for her indefinitely? —F.W., Nevada

You’re not required to give reservists a post-duty rest period

01/01/2005
If you have military reservists on staff, you can call them to work right after they return from their weekend duty or other service obligations. Contrary to what you may have …

Don’t offer comp time to nonexempt employees

01/01/2005

Q. Can we offer our nonexempt employees comp time instead of overtime pay during a pay period? If we can, do we have to offer it at one and a half times, just like overtime is paid? For example, if an employee works one hour of overtime, do we have to give him one and a half hours of comp time? —J.C., Ohio

Enforce use-it-or-lose-it vacation with a clear policy

01/01/2005
Issue: How to handle employees’ vacation leave left over at year-end or when they leave your employ.
Benefit: A clearly written policy can protect you from disputes and unnecessary compensation. …

All staff on payroll count toward FMLA threshold

01/01/2005

Q. We’re a church with six full-time employees, three part-timers and six musicians who are paid per performance. Are we subject to FMLA? And who counts as an “employee” under the law: full-time, part-time and on-call workers, such as our musicians? —E.E., North Carolina

Beware of costly time-clock ’rounding’

01/01/2005
If your organization uses a time clock, you probably haven’t thought about whether it’s programmed accurately. But a seemingly small hiccup in “rounding” hourly employees’ work time could cost big bucks. …