Since smokers’ health-care costs tend to be higher than those of nonsmokers, is it reasonable for smokers to pay higher premiums when they buy … Read more
Small Businesses in Some States May Have Insurance Choices in 2014
Small business workers in at least 15 states and the District of Columbia may have a menu of health insurance choices next year, something that didn’t seem … Read more
Why We Need Bereavement Policies That Make More Sense
Grab your company’s Employee Handbook and take a look at the Bereavement Leave policy. Go ahead, I’ll wait. It probably starts out by stating how the … Read more
New Year, Old Message: 2014 Salary Increases Will Be Around 3% — Again
Waiting for that big raise to finally come through now that the economy seems to be slowly, gradually improving? Well, you might need to bit a little … Read more
The Benefits of Vacation: Why Letting Employees Off Makes So Much Sense
Why, oh why are we so stingy with time off? Not only are managers reluctant to give time off, employees are often reluctant to take it. It’s no secret that … Read more
What Happens When Employees Trust Leaders, But Not the Comp Plan?
Ever run into a situation where employees say that they trust a company’s leaders but not its compensation plans? Where an otherwise trustworthy and … Read more
Employer Mandate to Provide Health Care Postponed Until 2015
Employers that were worried about how they would be able to handle the implementation of health care reform starting in January have one less thing to … Read more
Building Better Engagement, or Why Millennials Hate Being Paid by the Hour
Question: What’s the simplest way to pay an employee? Answer: Wage per hour. Simply multiply the number of hours worked by the agreed upon hourly wage, … Read more
Pay Bias: It’s Morale Busting When You Punish the Internal Candidate
Relative pay bias dominates the compensation field. Inferences made from comparative relationships overwhelm the minds of practitioners and cause them to … Read more
The Perils of “Rewarding” Exempt Employees
I’ve said it before: FLSA compliance — the challenges of getting (and keeping) positions appropriately classified — can be difficult … Read more