Day: March 14, 2013

Beyond Yahoo! hoopla: Legal issues have place in work-from-home debate

by Tammy Binford When Yahoo! Inc. CEO Marissa Mayer decided her company would be better off if home-based workers relocated to the office, she gave a lot of people a lot to talk about. And telecommuters, HR professionals, executives, and bloggers sounded off in a big way. The furor started with a memo in February […]

BLR’s 2013 retirement benefits survey results

Recently, BLR conducted a survey of 1,261 HR professionals to find out about the retirement benefits their organizations offer employees. Most respondents (86%) say they offer either a 401(k) or 403(b) retirement savings plan to employees. Employee contributions While a high number of employers represented in the BLR survey offer retirement benefits, only 33% automatically […]

Retirement Survey Results–How Do You Compare?

A surprising 86% of employers offer either a 401(k) or 403(b) retirement savings plan to employees, according to the 1261 respondents to our recent survey of retirement benefit practices. Only 33% of those who answered the question, however, automatically enroll employees, though 2.5% plan to implement auto-enrollment in the future. Other survey highlights: Most common […]

Rule on Reform’s Reinsurance Fee Clarifies Payments for Health Plans

Employer-sponsored plans that are secondary to Medicare are not subject to health reform’s expensive transitional reinsurance fee, nor are health flexible spending arrangements, health savings accounts and most health reimbursement arrangements. On March 11, 2013, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services published its final regulation on the transitional reinsurance fee, which takes effect […]

Pension Plans’ Funded Status Slipped in February

Three monthly measures of defined benefit pension plans’ funded status slipped or remained flat in February after a strong start to 2013, due mostly to weakening interest rates. The Milliman 100 Pension Funding Index, which monitors funding for the U.S.’s largest corporate DB plans, posted a decrease in funded status for the month to 81.5 […]

NLRB wants Supreme Court review of recess appointments decision

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) announced on March 12 it will ask the U.S. Supreme Court to review an appeals court decision that says the appointment of two Board members is invalid. In consultation with the Justice Department, the NLRB said it intends to file a petition by the April 25 deadline for Supreme […]

Customer Service Training Begins with Hiring the Right People

As we learned yesterday, the ultimate success of any business derives from the attitude of its employees. Good-natured employees not only diligently carry out their assigned tasks, but do so positively and creatively. They project good feelings and may find solutions to customer problems even where solutions don’t currently exist. That’s something even the best […]

ACA Will Make Wellness Even More Important

Your wellness program may get much more important under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), says Morris, a member of the firm Epstein Becker Green in its Washington, D.C., office who specializes in benefits. There are already many benefits to wellness programs, but Morris is convinced they will become even more crucial as the ACA unfolds […]

Workers’ compensation reform: Independent medical review

Independent medical review (IMR) is the largest change in California’s SB 863, which has been widely lauded as a “new and improved” workers’ compensation reform package. The new law addresses problems that arose out of the 2004 reforms by minimizing delays in medical treatment and improving access to care.