• The HR Specialist - Print Newsletter
  • HR Specialist: Employment Law
  • The HR Weekly

Compensation & Benefits

IRS making list, checking it twice to spot end-of-year awards cheats

12/08/2009

Nothing takes the shine off an employee achievement award faster than having to pay taxes on its value. The IRS is on the lookout for awards that really amount to bonuses, but it’s entirely possible to design a recognition program that doesn’t cause tax liability for your employees—and is fully tax deductible for your organization.

Fort Lauderdale suit shows cops don’t know all the laws

12/08/2009

When Fort Lauderdale police officers sued the city, they claimed an early retirement offered to older workers violated the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA). The grounds: that a release the city asks the departing officers to sign illegally makes retirees relinquish all claims against the city.

Wellness programs: Does your health-risk questionnaire violate the new genetic-bias law?

12/04/2009

It’s time to take a fresh look at the health questionnaires you hand out to employees as part of your wellness program. New federal regulations that prohibit discrimination against people with congenital medical conditions mean employers and health benefits providers must immediately review health risk assessments (HRAs) to make sure they don’t ask employees to reveal protected information.

North Carolina Supreme Court rules: No unemployment with voluntary early retirement

12/04/2009

Employees who decide to accept their employer’s offer for early retirement can’t also collect unemployment compensation. So said the North Carolina Supreme Court in a decision based on a simple concept: The employee would still have a job if he or she hadn’t chosen instead to take the enhanced retirement benefits offered as an incentive to leave early.

Can an employee collect workers’ comp and then sue us for more?

12/04/2009

Q. One of our employees suffered a job-related injury. Now she’s trying to sue us in court for damages following mediation in which she settled her workers’ compensation petition by accepting permanent total disability (PTD) benefits. Can she do that?

Can we cap how much vacation can accrue?

12/04/2009

Q. Our vacation policy caps the amount of vacation employees can earn at 250 hours. Employees can’t earn any more until the vacation balance falls below that level. Does this violate California’s law on accruing vacation?

Oral agreements may be too vague to be enforceable

12/03/2009

Oral agreements are as binding as written ones, but they can be considerably less precise. Consider this case, in which a disgruntled employee claimed an oral agreement affected future compensation:

Congress passes new law expanding family medical military leave

12/03/2009

Just when you thought you had implemented all the necessary changes to your family- and military-leave policies, the law has again changed. On Oct. 28, President Obama signed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for the 2010 fiscal year, which includes provisions that expand the military leave entitlements of the FMLA.

IRS to audit 6,000 firms to test employment tax compliance

12/03/2009

Starting in February 2010, the IRS will begin to audit 6,000 randomly selected employers to give the agency a snapshot of employment tax compliance in the United States. The audits will stretch across all industries and company sizes, and will focus on employment tax issues ranging from payroll taxes to independent contractor status to executive compensation.

Virtual call center cuts turnover, boosts productivity

12/01/2009

Customers who phone the call center at Ascend One, a debt management company in Columbia, Md., are likely to talk to an employee who’s dressed in pajamas. Since 2006, the organization has allowed its call center employees to work from home, and about half of them—300 or so—have accepted the offer.