Does your company’s voluntary benefits menu include pet insurance?
Believe it or not, 4 percent of employers in 2011 did indeed offer pet insurance, according to SHRM’s 2011 Employee Benefits Study. Employees who have pets may welcome this benefit, since the ASPCA estimates that “pet parents” spend over $13 billion in veterinary care to keep their pets happy and healthy.
I recently added to the profit level of my own vet this weekend since being adopted by a cat last month. Read more…
I was reading an article recently; it was one of those “Best Places To Work”-type of articles. Since I run a company, I’m always looking out for good ideas on how to take care of your employees without spending a dime, but unfortunately, “Best Places” companies that make these lists usually don’t give you these type of ideas!
What you get from “Best Places” articles are all the over-the top-crap – gourmet cat food for your in-cube pet-mate, free liposuction for your spouse, and discounted tattoo eyeliner coupons. I would love for my company to be on the top of every single “Best Places” to work article, but we probably won’t. I care too much about my employees to make that happen.
What?!?
Yes, you read that right – My greatest weakness is I care too much! Read more…
Every year, the Metlife Study of Employee Benefit Trends cracks open a window into what employees really want from their job and employer.
The 2012 survey — MetLife’s 10th annual — is no different, and as the introduction to this year’s report notes, “Year-over-year, the Study shows what strategies are working and with what results – highlighting how employers might want to shift strategies in light of the findings and enabling them to make informed decisions.”
Yes, how employers might change their strategy is certainly important, but for me, the really critical information in this research is the the insight it gives into what your workforce is thinking, needing, and wanting. For example, this year’s MetLife Employee Benefit Trends report says that your workers are: Read more…
Here’s an HR dilemma. See if you can figure out the correct response.
Under your organization’s health plan, your company gets better rates if more of your workers are non-smokers. How do you ensure that employees who say they don’t smoke — and get nearly a $500 per year annual discount as a result — really are non-smokers?
If you’re managing public workers in Maricopa County, Arizona, you make the workers submit to a controversial saliva test. And you’re not surprised when you find that, lo and behold, a lot of those non-smokers getting discounts have been fibbing about their tobacco use all along. Read more…
Chalk this up as another one of those trend-setting legal rulings that come out of California and then ripple across the country.
The California Supreme Court ruled Thursday that although employers “must make it possible for workers to take scheduled breaks,” they “cannot be held liable if employees decide to work instead of rest,” according to a report in the Los Angeles Times.
We conclude an employer’s obligation is to relieve its employee of all duty, with the employee thereafter at liberty to use the meal period for whatever purpose he or she desires,” Justice Kathryn Mickle Werdegar wrote in the unanimous decision, “ but the employer need not ensure that no work is done.” Read more…
The IRS has given us two extra days to file this year due to April 15 falling on a Sunday and the recognition of Emancipation Day on April 16. This also provides a few extra days to consider contributing to an IRA.
Your employees are probably aware that any changes they make to their 401(k) contributions can’t impact last year’s tax picture but do they know about the ability to make a prior year contribution to an IRA and how an IRA contribution can increase their overall tax refund with a Saver’s Credit?
With the Saver’s Credit, the IRS provides a credit that offers up to $1,000 for single filers and $2,000 if filing jointly as an incentive to save for retirement. This credit is based on contributions made to either an employer-sponsored plan, traditional IRA, and/or a Roth IRA and based on income grid found on the form 8880, the credit can be worth up to 50 percent of the first $2,000 of retirement contributions. Read more…
By John E. Thompson
If a 35 percent spike in the minimum wage, a $590-per-week increase in the salary amount required for exempt “white collar” workers, an immediate 41 percent rise in the cash wage required for tipped employees, and a new paid-time-off requirement are prescriptions for an economic upturn, then help might be on the way.
All are provided for in the voluminous “Rebuild America Act,” S. 2252, recently introduced by Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa, right).
Under S. 2252, the federal Fair Labor Standards Act‘s minimum wage would rise in three steps from the current level of $7.25 per hour to $9.80 per hour about two years after passage. After that, the rate would be adjusted annually in tandem with the Consumer Price Index. Read more…
Health-care employment will continue to grow much faster than employment generally, with the number of jobs in home care and other ambulatory settings projected to jump more than 40 percent by 2020, a new study suggests.
New figures from the Labor Department highlight an expected hiring shift away from hospitals, as the system puts greater emphasis on preventive care and reduced admissions, said Jean Moore, director of the Center for Health Workforce Studies at the State University of New York at Albany. The center produced employment forecasts based on the government’s latest projections for occupational and industry growth.
“For a long time, acute-care services tended to trump everything else, and that seems to be changing,” Moore said. “There’s a growing awareness that it’s penny-wise and pound-foolish not to pay attention to preventive and primary care.” Read more…
When it comes to benefits, we know one size doesn’t fit all. But most companies still use that approach for their benefits communication.
While targeting communication for different employees and different scenarios does take a little more effort, it’s in reach for most organizations. Here’s how:
Diverse employees mean diverse adult learning styles — visual, auditory, kinesthetic, to name a few. Fortunately, you have access to multiple communication channels — print, Internet, video, in person, social media, mobile devices, infographics — that offer a variety of ways to deliver information that reaches all the different ways your employees consume and actually learn. By using the various channels available, you can let individuals self-select the types of information that work best for them. Read more…
Editor’s Note: Sometimes, readers ask about past TLNT articles that they have heard about but may have missed. That’s why today we’re republishing this TLNT Classic post that a number of you have been asking about.
This past week a member of my husband’s team suffered a devastating loss: his one-year-old daughter died, which sent my husband — his manager — looking into the company’s bereavement policy.
It was three days.
Three to five days is standard, so this isn’t a knock against his company. This is a knock against blanket HR policies which don’t get discussed much (by those outside of HR) until, that is, you come slamming up against one of them. Read more…
“Please Join: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/EmpoweringPeoplePower http://www.linkedin.com/groups/Whizible-Advance-Service-Management-Beyond-4082706”
— Sajal Ghosh on Hitting a Home Run in Talent Management: The Key is HR Analytics, 51 minutes ago
“Great advice on how to do networking correctly. thank you.”
— Exec Career Svcs on Authentic Networking: How You Can Build Your Extra “Team”, 2 days ago
“I like this. I see discussions on LinkedIn from time to time saying that Texas ranks #1 in creating jobs. What . . . ”
— Jacque Vilet on Weekly Wrap: Does it Every Pay For Someone to Fib on a Resume?, 2 days ago
“agreed”
— Carol Schultz on When You Reward, Make It About the Employee – Not the Employer, 2 days ago
“agreed”
— Carol Schultz on When You Reward, Make It About the Employee – Not the Employer, 2 days ago