Category: Benefits and Compensation

This topic provides guidance on how to handle compensation issues in a way that attracts and retains the best talent and advances the strategic goals of your business. You get news and tips on what’s going on nationally and in the states, and updates on changes in regulations, possible governmental action, and emerging compensation trends.

Benefits Professionals Share Best Practices and Trends

By Chris Ceplenski, BLR Managing Editor, News “The pendulum for benefits responsibility has swung back over to the employer.” “We saw a drastic rise in enrollment in our high deductible health plan (HDHP) when we renamed it an HSA plan.” “Benchmarking against your competitors is important, but don’t be a copycat.” “Eliminate the benefits-speak and […]

3 Avoidable Errors That Could Upend Your Employees’ Retirement Plans

As older Americans approach retirement, many may be realizing their financial planning isn’t what it should have been. That could mean they need to postpone retirement—or abandon the idea altogether. “Most people don’t spend much time even thinking about retirement,” says Stephen Ng, founder and president of Stephen Ng Financial Group. Ng is also the […]

Payroll, Data and Cyber Security: Be Aware of the Risks

Payroll and other human resources professionals are accustomed to handling sensitive information. It’s quite literally in their job descriptions. Large organizations often employ sophisticated software designed to avoid security issues, and they may even have a department dedicated to reducing risks. Even so, a quick online search will reveal many, many instances of customer and […]

Top 10 States that Offer the Most Telecommuting Jobs

After analyzing the job posting activity of over 40,000 companies in its database, FlexJobs has identified the top 10 states where companies recruited the most state-based telecommuters in 2015. For the second year in a row, California, Texas, and New York lead the states with the highest number of telecommuting job postings. North Carolina and […]

wellness

Employee Wellness Programs: Why Heart Rate Should Replace Step Count

By Liz Dickinson, founder and CEO of Mio Global Every year, we see more and more fitness trackers finding a home on wrists. The general increase in fitness and healthy living—as our healthcare system is shifting—has positioned wearables as a valuable tool, especially for fitness tracking. According to a recent study from Forrester, one in […]

Ask the Expert: Can I Stop Employees from Talking about Compensation?

Can I stop employees from talking about compensation with each other-e.g., discussing how much they are paid? Prohibiting employee discussions about compensation is likely to violate the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), a federal law that protects both unionized and nonunionized employees.  Information about the law is available on HR.BLR under the topics Unions and […]