Thursday May 9, 2024

Handling employees with substance abuse problems: Tips for your managers

It’s no secret – most managers dread initiating difficult conversations with their employees. And no conversation is more difficult to start than when a manager suspects an employee has a drug or alcohol problem.   You’re well aware of the effects of employee substance abuse. The consequences run from performance issues to behavior problems to absenteeism. […]

Top 10 ways to curb harassment, from EEOC task force

Over the past year-and-a-half, an EEOC task force has been charged with putting together best practices for how employers can stymie workplace harassment. Its work is now done, and it just issued a report on its findings.  The 16-member task force was comprised of academics, attorneys (from both the employer and employee side), members of employer […]

IRS proposed rule may alter your ACA ‘affordability’ calculation: Here’s how

To pass muster with the ACA, and not trigger any penalties, the health plans of applicable large employers must pass three tests.  Those tests are: the minimum essential coverage test (meaning services are covered in at least 10 “essential” health categories) the minimum value test (meaning at least 60% of the cost of essential care is […]

DOL agrees to pay $7M to settle claim it didn’t pay OT to thousands of workers

Ah, sweet irony. The Department of Labor — those folks who designed the new overtime rules that’ve been driving you crazy over the last few months — has agreed to pay $7 million to settle a claim that the agency didn’t pay earned overtime to thousands of its own workers.   The settlement ends a decade-long wrestling match […]

How new fiduciary rule impacts employers’ HSA options

If your company offers an HSA to employees, you’ll need to be aware of how the new fiduciary rule factors into that offering.   The DOL’s controversial fiduciary rule contains some 600 pages of onerous details, most of which deal specifically with service providers and retirement accounts. But retirement plans aren’t the only accounts that are […]

DOL updates two more mandatory posters

If you haven’t hung up these two revised posters yet, the time is now. They became mandatory on August 1.  Which posters were changed? The Federal Minimum Wage poster, and The Employee Polygraph Protection Act (EPPA) poster. What changed? The look of both posters has been refreshed, and a QR code was added to both […]

Best Learning Management System (LMS) Software – Review Top 10 Systems for 2016

A Learning Management System (LMS) automates the administration, testing, tracking and reporting of learner progress through online courses. Using a LMS, organizations can create curricula to educate employees, and allow them to demonstrate competencies or gain certification in areas relevant to their role. Analytics and reporting functionality also gives organizations more insight into training or […]

After ACA passage, employers threatened to drop coverage: How many did?

In response to the controversial Obamacare’s play-or-pay requirement, many employers said they’d opt to go the pay route. New research shows how many firms actually followed through on that claim.   In 2010, the year the ACA was signed into law, 80.6% of private sector employers with between 25-99 employees offered healthcare coverage to employees, […]

Do workers understand how their jobs fit into your overall performance?

Do your employees really know how their day-to-day duties connect to your overall success as an organization?   If a recent study is any indication, the answer for more than half of them is: No. Nearly half of workers in the Robert Half Management Resources survey reported they are always able to see the connection between […]

Chipotle on the hook for $550k for illegal firing of pregnant worker

It hasn’t been a great year for the Chipotle Mexican Grill chain. First, a slew of food safety issues. And now a jury has awarded $550,000 to a former employee who sued the company for pregnancy discrimination.   A look at the case: Doris Nohemi Garcia Hernandez worked at a Chipotle outlet in Washington, D.C., where […]