Day: December 4, 2012

Withholding judgment on IRS amnesty program

by Michael E. Barnsback For the past couple of years, the IRS has focused its enforcement efforts on the misclassification of independent contractors. Many employers improperly classify workers as independent contractors to avoid paying FICA taxes and providing benefits. Others make the mistake simply because they don’t understand the differences between the two classifications. Regardless, […]

Scheduling, seniority issues, and holiday pay

by Jennifer L. Anderson Ebenezer Scrooge is the most infamous of employers — overworking and underpaying his employees, denying their vacation requests, and spreading holiday misery rather than holiday cheer. Fortunately, A Christmas Carol is fiction, and times have changed. These days, most of you decorate your offices, accommodate employees’ vacation requests, provide standard holidays […]

Outlook for 2013 and Beyond: EEOC, DOL … and You

Special from the Advanced Employment Issues Symposium, Las Vegas Sweeping developments at DOL and EEOC took top billing at the Employment Law Outlook panel which kicked off the Advanced Employment Issues Symposium in Las Vegas. Panelists included Susan Webman, Of Counsel with FortneyScott in Washington, DC; John Husband, senior partner with Holland & Hart in […]

Employers Will Bear Burden of Filling Reform Fund to Stabilize Individual Market

Employers that sponsor health plans are bracing themselves for a significant tax hit under health reform. Health reform’s transitional reinsurance program, which will require insurers and self-funded plans to pay billions of dollars to partly reimburse commercial insurers writing individual policies for patients with very high medical costs, imposes large costs on employers to further […]

What Your Colleagues Think About Safety and Health Training

Here’s what your colleagues think about safety and health training: How effective is your safety training? 61%    Somewhat effective 29%    Very effective 10%    Not very effective at all How much of your training sessions involve hands on participation? 50%    Less than half of it 18%    All of it 18%    None of it 14%    More than […]

CEO to HR—Show Me the Money!

Show Me the Money Oswald, author of the Oswald Letter, suggests that HR can start by concentrating on three areas: turnover (see yesterday’s Advisor), productivity, and absence. Here’s how to present to him: Tell me how much your plan would save. Tell me how much your plan would cost. (That tells me what my ROI […]

12 steps to implementing an effective job rotation program

Have you been considering implementing a job rotation program but don’t know how to get started? Job rotation programs can be a great way to reduce the cost of turnover and improve customer loyalty. Having a good plan in place is a good place to start. In a recent CER webinar titled “Job Rotation Programs: […]