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HR Management

Lone Star State tax burden remains steady

05/06/2010
Texas residents had one of the nation’s lowest per capita tax rates in 2009, according to the watchdog web site Taxadmin.org. Texas ranked 46th in state per capita taxes in 2009, up two slots from 48th in 2008.

5 tips to avoid this summer’s legal hazards

05/04/2010
Different seasons usher in different employment law risks. Employment law firm Fisher & Phillips offers this five-point to-do list to get ready for the coming summer months.

What has four legs and hurts your employees every day?

05/04/2010
Even for office workers who exercise regularly, spending most of the day sitting increases the risk of obesity, diabetes, heart disease and some cancers. Here are four easy ways your employees—and you—can beat that deadly workplace peril: the chair.

Tighten up your attendance policy or risk unemployment comp hit

05/04/2010

Here’s added incentive to have crystal-clear attendance policies: Employees who are terminated for violating unclear or confusing attendance rules may end up collecting unemployment compensation. Here’s why: In many states, former employees can successfully argue that they were terminated through no fault of their own if they can show that the attendance policy was difficult to understand and comply with.

Stealing employee passwords as easy as 1-2-3…4-5

05/03/2010
A new report by Internet-security firm Imperva says “123456” is the most common computer password, followed by “12345”, “123456789” and “password.” The report analyzed 32 million passwords recently exposed during the breach of an online retailer.

5 steps for getting beyond comp & benefits benchmarks

04/30/2010
I get nervous when HR professionals use benchmarks as their primary criteria to determine how much to pay employees or spend on benefits. My proposal: Put less stock in external benchmarks, and figure out what your company needs to attract and retain high-quality employees. Then devise a strategy to get what you need. Here are five ideas to consider:

New Jersey per capita state tax burden eases

04/28/2010
New Jersey residents paid the 10th highest rate of per capita state taxes in the country in 2009, according to the taxpayers’ watchdog web site Taxadmin.org. For taxpayers, that’s relatively good news. New Jersey had the seventh highest state tax burden in 2008.

N.J. Supreme Court backs e-mail privacy on company PCs

04/28/2010
The New Jersey Supreme Court has ruled that an employee has a reasonable expectation of privacy when she accesses and uses a web-based e-mail account on company computer equipment, but doesn’t save her password on the computer.

Can we require women to repay maternity leave benefits if they quit before returning to work?

04/28/2010
Q. Our maternity leave policy offers paid leave for female employees who plan to return to work after the birth of the child. If the employee quits before returning to work, she’s required to reimburse the company for the paid leave. Is this lawful?

Can we limit cash awards to just some employees?

04/28/2010
Q. When we win contracts, we recognize employees with cash awards. But these awards may be given only to the select few employees who were involved. Is this legally OK?