Articles tagged 'Benefits'

Regular People Return as Most Credible Trusted Sources, Study Finds

by Fran Melmed on Feb 3, 2012, 1:27 PM | No comments yet

Regular employees and “people like me” are once again among our top three most trusted, credible sources, according to the 2012 Edelman Trust Barometer.

They’re back in the limelight after fading away last year, somehow losing ground to CEOs. But this year, things look much as they did in 2004, when regular folk vaulted to the top of the heap of credible spokespeople.

In health communication, the Regular Joe or Jane has continuously held a starring role. While we defer to medical professionals for information about health treatment, Susannah Fox of the Pew Internet & American Life Project has written that we look to people in our shoes — people like me — for emotional support and empathy, encouragement and care. This is particularly true for those who are living with a chronic condition, are acting as caregiver, or have experienced a medical crisis. It’s also true for those who have gained weight, had a pregnancy, or quit smoking. Read more…

HR News & Trends

Weekly Wrap: Reverse Mentoring Cuts Through the Generational Logjam

by John Hollon on Feb 3, 2012, 11:47 AM | No comments yet

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I don’t understand the generational issues in the workplace that we’re constantly squabbling about.

Many, many times I have written here (and elsewhere) that Millennials get a bad rap, especially when it comes to their workplace ethic. Just late last year I wrote:

The Millennial generation, in my view, is no better or worse than any other generation that came before. Yes, they have their own unique generational issues but in my close experience with them, Millennials reflect what you find in other generations and society as a whole — some are good, some average, some clueless.”

A lot of the negative stuff that Millennials (or Gen Y, if you prefer) get hammered with has to do with the perceived notion that somehow, their workplace ethic is wildly out of whack with what everyone else is doing and that managers need some special kind of coaching to learn how to cope with them. Read more…

TLNT Radio

Money Can’t Buy You Love … Or Change Your Culture

by Lance Haun on Feb 1, 2012, 8:55 AM | No comments yet

Editor’s note: The TLNT Radio Show is a weekly podcast where we talk to the top minds in HR and talent management. New episodes are posted here every week. Make sure you subscribe to TLNT and get our daily newsletter for the latest, or subscribe to our podcast in iTunes to automatically get updates.

We all want the quick fix and easy do to cure what ails us in the business world. Unfortunately, it isn’t always that easy in the world of human resources. We’re dealing with people and people don’t respond uniformly to any action.

So when we talk about the world of incentives, recognition, culture and cold, hard cash, the incentive programs we design and put a huge amount of effort may not be making the most important change we need it to make: a shift in core values.

Why Do We Survey and Report Salary Ranges?

by Ann Bares on Jan 30, 2012, 11:45 AM | 2 Comments

A debate with a would-be client last week reminded me of a particular pet peeve, so I thought I’d trot it out here for discussion. (The would-be client is probably moving on to find herself a less combative consultant, but that’s a story for another post…)

Many salary surveys routinely collect and report salary range minimums, midpoints, and maximums. My question is: How is this information useful?

Even if you know how representative those ranges are of the overall set of pay practices (some surveys tell you the number/percent of companies reporting ranges, many don’t), you have no way of knowing: Read more…

Benefits

Health Savings Accounts: Is It Time to Make a Change For Your Workforce?

by Linda Robertson on Jan 27, 2012, 10:45 AM | No comments yet

Last week’s mail started the avalanche of end of year statements and one of the first to arrive was my HSA statement.

I am lucky to be in pretty good health so I don’t mind having a high-deductible health plan. As a result, I also get to watch my HSA (health savings account) continue to build up year after year so this is one statement I usually look forward to opening.

But this past statement didn’t show much growth beyond the actual contributions and to make matters worse, there was a $2 monthly service fee that had been eating into the little bit of interest that had been posted. Since my employer funds a significant portion of my annual HSA contribution, I didn’t have a choice as to who the HSA plan custodian was when the account was opened. When we had switched to the HSA and high-deductible health plan a few years ago, a local credit union had wooed us with an easy-to-manage employer-funded HSA and even waived the account fee for the first 12 months. Read more…

Benefits, HR Basics

How You Can Help Employees Cope With Their Medical Bills

by Linda Robertson on Jan 23, 2012, 12:27 PM | No comments yet

Flying home last week from the wintry Northwest, I heard lots of sneezing and sniffles from my fellow travelers.

Although we’ve been lucky to have such a mild winter so far, cold January weather usually brings with it the onslaught of cold and flu season. In a typical year, 5 to 20 percent of the population in the U.S. will get the flu, according to www.flufacts.com , and some of your employees may end up with flu complications that may require a trip to the doctor or even hospitalization.

With the increased popularity of Consumer Driven Health Plans (CDHPs) that have a high deductible, many employees face out-of-pocket costs due to these flu complications or other medical expenses. Some employers have chosen to offset the high deductible found in a CDHP by funding a Health Reimbursement Account (HRA) or a Health Savings Account (HSA) with an employer contribution. Other employers offer their workforce the ability to set aside tax-free dollars in an HSA or Flexible Spending Account (FSA) through payroll deduction. Read more…

HR News & Trends, Legal Issues

Notice Deadline Looming Under New York Wage Theft Protection Act

by Christopher H. Mills on Jan 23, 2012, 9:43 AM | No comments yet

By Christopher H. Mills

Employers with operations and employees in New York State should by now be aware that the first notice to all employees regarding their pay status, required by the New York Wage Theft Prevention Act (WTPA), must be given by January 31, 2012, and annually from now on.

If you have not given these notices by now, you should have plans to do so before the end of the month. We described the requirements imposed by the WTPA in a Legal Alert in April 2011.

While giving the required notices concerning wage and salary information is an absolute requirement, employers should also realize that doing so may well raise additional issues that have not been discussed as widely as the specific legal requirement that employers provide the notices. Read more…

Benefits, Compensation

Is Your Profit Sharing Plan Really a BINO (a Bonus in Name Only)?

by Ann Bares on Jan 20, 2012, 1:59 PM | No comments yet

Jack Stack – the founder/CEO of SRC Holdings, author of The Great Game of Business, and considered by many to be the father of open-book management – has this to say about discretionary profit sharing plans (from the Inc. article The Problem with Profit Sharing). Note that bold emphasis mine:

By profit sharing, I mean the practice of taking a percentage of a company’s profits, putting it into a pool, and disbursing it to the company’s employees, usually sometime after the close of the year. Understand, I’m not saying that this is a bad thing to do, just that the benefits of doing it are limited. For openers, the recipients seldom know exactly how they helped generate the profits, beyond just doing their jobs. No doubt, they enjoy getting the money. They may even be grateful for it. But they aren’t likely to think or act differently because of it or to be greatly motivated by it. Read more…

Benefits

Is Health Care Reform Comic Worthy?

by Liz Rowell on Jan 18, 2012, 11:55 AM | No comments yet

We love innovative ways to educate. Particularly around hairy concepts like health care reform. Check out these two we’ve recently discovered.

New graphic novel. Whoever thought a comic book approach to explaining complex topics was a good idea? (This will age me, but … ) My mind jumps to this favorite School House Rock video — covering just one of many civic lessons. Now comes Jonathan Gruber’s new graphic novel Health Care Reform: What It Is, Why It’s Necessary, How It Works. Some may appreciate that it doesn’t come with a catchy tune (that you just can’t get out of your head!).
Cartoon Americans. The Kaiser Family Foundation has created profiles of insured and uninsured people plus small and large employersto help explain the impact of the ACA. We loved their Main Street video produced just after the law was passed. Read more…

HR Basics, Legal Issues

Protecting an Employee’s Pre-Eligibility FMLA Request: What You Need to Do

by Eric B. Meyer on Jan 17, 2012, 10:45 AM | No comments yet

By Eric B. Meyer

Back in 2005, a Pennsylvania federal court recognized in this opinion that an employee’s FMLA rights become sacrosanct upon requesting FMLA — even if the employee is not yet FMLA-eligible — provided that the employee has satisfied all FMLA service requirements when the FMLA begins.

Where would this most likely arise? Why with pregnancy, of course. Something like:

Female employee starts work;
A few months later, she gets pregnant and requests FMLA to comment upon childbirth; and
She gets fired before giving birth. Read more…

Articles tagged 'Benefits'

Regular People Return as Most Credible Trusted Sources, Study Finds

Weekly Wrap: Reverse Mentoring Cuts Through the Generational Logjam

Money Can’t Buy You Love … Or Change Your Culture

Why Do We Survey and Report Salary Ranges?

Health Savings Accounts: Is It Time to Make a Change For Your Workforce?

How You Can Help Employees Cope With Their Medical Bills

Notice Deadline Looming Under New York Wage Theft Protection Act

Is Your Profit Sharing Plan Really a BINO (a Bonus in Name Only)?

Is Health Care Reform Comic Worthy?

Protecting an Employee’s Pre-Eligibility FMLA Request: What You Need to Do

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