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Compensation & Benefits

Temp position OK during intermittent leave

04/07/2010

When employees take intermittent FMLA leave, it often causes logistical problems for employers. It’s hard to find someone to fill in during just those times when the employee is off. One solution is to find another position for the employee who’s taking intermittent leave. That way, another employee can temporarily fill her old position on a full-time basis.

The hidden HR hurdles of health care reform

04/06/2010
It’s no wonder that some provisions of the recently enacted health care reform law flew under the media radar. After all, it’s more than 2,000 pages long. But HR pros need to know about new requirements concerning reporting of employer-provided health benefits, breastfeeding at work and background checks for health care workers.

‘Babies-at-work’ benefits answer a crying need

04/06/2010
Even as the economy forces some organizations to cut benefits, it’s prompting others to add one: allowing parents to bring their babies to work. In just two years, the number of organizations with a babies-at-work benefit has more than doubled. The key, experts say, is to set up formal policies to guide moms and managers alike. Here’s how one company does it.

Can employee sue over alleged ‘promised’ pay?

04/06/2010
Q. We have an employee who insists that he was told when he was offered the job that he would earn at least as much as he earned in his last job. There is nothing in writing. Can he sue us?

How do we calculate the rolling FMLA year?

04/05/2010
One of the four permissible ways for an employer to calculate employees’ 12-week FMLA leave entitlement is to use a 12-month period measured backward from the date an employee uses any FMLA leave. For employers, this rolling 12-month period is the most administratively burdensome—and also the most advantageous.

FMLA eligibility: How serious is that serious health condition?

04/05/2010
One of the trickiest parts of administering FMLA benefits is figuring out just whether an employee’s health condition qualifies for leave. Who decides, and how?

Lowe’s to offer free employee health screening

04/05/2010
Home-improvement giant Lowe’s is offering free health screening to its employees. It also recently announced that it will fully cover heart surgery costs at the Cleveland Clinic for any Lowe’s employee (or family member) from anywhere in the U.S. and Canada.

Plenty of reasons to fire him? Ex-employee probably won’t get unemployment

04/05/2010
Employees are entitled to unemployment compensation only if they lose their jobs because of things over which they have little or no control. On the other hand, employees get no benefits if they’re terminated for improper conduct as defined by the employer.

Tighten up attendance policies, or get ready for an unemployment comp hit

04/05/2010

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 payments. Here’s why: 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.

Were Blackwater’s employee relations murky as well?

04/02/2010
Xe Services, the Moyock-based defense contractor formerly known as Blackwater, faces three lawsuits by former trainers who claim the company misclassified them as independent contractors. The suit seeks overtime pay.