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.

Can You Terminate Those with the Highest Salaries?

While salary level may be a legitimate factor in determining which employees to lay off, it cannot be the determining factor if it adversely affects older workers, says Tinnin, who is a partner with Tinnin Law Firm in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and editor of New Mexico Employment Law Letter. In 2005, he adds, the U.S. […]

And the Oscar for Employee Excellence Goes to …

    Oswald, CEO of BLR®, offered his thoughts on recognizing excellence in a recent edition of The Oswald Letter. Now let me put that in perspective for a moment. The Academy was formed in 1927, with the state of California granting its charter as a nonprofit organization on May 11 of that year. Films […]

Key Questions for Compensation Audits

What Is Written? Start with the written documents, says Kleinman. What written documents relate to compensation? Who has them? Who wrote what and when?  What do they say? For example: Plan documents Structures Policies Pay parameters Hiring/Bonus boundaries (approval levels, etc.) How’s Turnover? What turnover levels is the organization experiencing? Functional turnover is created “intentionally,” […]

Notre Dame University Denied Contraception Injunction

The 7th Circuit in a 2-1 ruling refused to grant a preliminary injunction to Notre Dame University, which would have freed the university from participating in reform’s requirement to provide contraceptives at no cost to all women. In so doing the court criticized the university’s argument that signing an EBSA Form 700 — expressing objections to the contraceptive […]

Compensation Audits: Align Philosophy with Strategy

Why Do an Audit? For the same reason we do financial audits—to fulfill a fundamental obligation, that is, to discover vulnerability. Remember, says Kleinman, who is principal of California-based Dan Kleinman Consulting, someone is always watching, internal and external, and they are evaluating what is going on. Five Reasons for a Compensation Audit There are […]

Surveillance and Secrets—Managing Social Media Risks

[Go here for S’s 1 and 2] S #3. Surveillance or “Snooping” What’s the Risk? When you monitor employee’s social media activity, you run two risks, says Yip: Damage to morale. The company may call it surveillance, but the employees will view it as snooping, and they won’t like it. The vast majority of employees […]

Four S’s of Social Media Risk

The 4 S’s of Social Media Risk Yip, who is litigation partner at the Honolulu office of law firm Cades Schutte LLP, offered his four S’s at the Advanced Employment Issues Symposium held recently in Las Vegas. S #1. Searches What’s the Risk? The biggest risk in searches is that you might learn information that […]

Agencies Add Safe Harbors to 90-day Rule for Health Plan Enrollment

Generally, waiting periods to enroll in health coverage cannot exceed 90 days, and eligibility conditions based solely on the lapse of a time period are permissible for no more than 90 days, under new final rules issued by the U.S. Departments of Labor Health and Human Services and the Treasury. In addition, the employer has […]

Mind Over Matter: Lessons from the Olympics

Oswald, CEO of BLR, offered his thoughts on mental toughness in a recent edition of The Oswald Letter. So as each skier attacked the course, NBC’s cameras would show Miller watching the competition to see if they eclipsed his time. I could only imagine what it was like for him to watch competitor after competitor […]

Engagement? Retention? Train and Talk

[ go here for the first three T’s] Training Training is a reward. Top people want to keep their skills up and you need them to believe that the organization cares about keeping employee skills up to date. Development is both a management responsibility and an employee reward. What If We Train and They Leave? […]