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HR Management

Pension law makes it OK to help employees choose investments

04/01/2007

No matter how highly educated your employees are, they’re probably not professional investment experts. Yet it’s likely your organization has shifted responsibility for retirement savings to those employees. But now the Pension Protection Act of 2006 makes it safe for employers to arrange for employees to receive personalized, specific advice on investments …

Paid-Volunteer program unearths passions in employees

04/01/2007

The community relations department at Texas-based National Instruments organizes volunteer opportunities for the company’s 2,200 U.S. employees and has 40 staffers engaging workers in volunteer efforts. But that’s just the beginning. …

Weight Watchers program helps Medicaid patients drop pounds

04/01/2007

When West Virginia ranked third in the nation in obese and overweight residents, it turned some heads in California. Reason: While Unicare, a division of Wellpoint, is located in California, it provides Medicaid coverage to 75,000 people in West Virginia …

Exempt status in question? ‘Good-Faith’ reply saves the day

04/01/2007

If an employee comes forward to protest that you owe him overtime pay because he should truly be a nonexempt worker, it pays to act fast and be able to show good cause why you classified him as exempt in the first place …

OSHA issues new mandatory safety poster

04/01/2007

If your organization’s OSHA safety poster is showing its years, now’s a good time to order a new one: OSHA just released a new version of the It’s the Law poster …

Rise in ‘Unhappy’ workers heightens lawsuit risks

04/01/2007

Fewer than half of Americans say they’re satisfied with their jobs, a dramatic drop from 20 years ago when 61 percent said they were satisfied, according to surveys by The Conference Board …

Opted out of workers’ comp system? Be careful of verbal authorizations

04/01/2007

If your organization has opted not to participate in the Texas workers’ compensation system, but you still authorize treatment for work-related injuries, make sure you track how and when you give employees permission to seek treatment …

Employee or supervisor? Classification affects union eligibility

04/01/2007

One of the toughest tasks for HR is to decide which employees are supervisors. Employers need to know this because supervisors are excluded from a collective bargaining unit for union organizing and voting purposes …

Wear two hats in evaluating harassment complaint

04/01/2007

If your HR job includes evaluating claims of sexual harassment and hostile environment, it’s a good idea to approach investigations from two separate but related angles …

Giving and receiving feedback: 8 important do’s & don’ts

04/01/2007

For some bosses, “Good work” or “That stunk” is all the feedback they offer employees in a day. But the employees crave a whole lot more …