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2008
- IS FLEXTIME RIGHT FOR YOUR ORGANIZATION?
December 03, 2008 - Flexible hours, or flextime as it’s commonly called, have been hailed by some as a revolution in the way that employees work because it allows them to strike a work-life balance that just isn’t possible under a rigid schedule. For example, a flextime empl...Read Full Article - THE WAVE OF THE FUTURE: SELF SERVICE HR
December 03, 2008 - Satisfy employees: Boost employee morale by empowering workers with instant access to information ranging from benefits plans to training opportunities.
Maintain accurate data: When employees are encouraged to update their own personnel informati...Read Full Article - KEY AREAS TO CONSIDER IN IMPLEMENTING A WELLNESS PROGRAM
December 03, 2008 - 1. What can your company afford to invest in its wellness program? In 2007 almost 40 percent of large companies in the US spend more than $200,000 annually and 20 percent spent at least $1 million on corporate wellness. Yes, that's a lot, but consider wha...Read Full Article - Drop Your Blood Sugar with One Painless Click
November 19, 2008 - A boost to your health is right under your thumb. It’s the “off” button on your TV remote. (Note: The typical remote is more contaminated than the lever on your toilet, so think about cleaning it! ) Anyway, spend less time holding your remote and you’l...Read Full Article - THE NEED FOR ACCURATE RECORD KEEPING UNDER FLSA
November 19, 2008 - Per the DOL, time worked because of missed meal periods or other breaks are still hours worked. Under the applicable regulations, “[w]ork not requested but suffered is work time.” 29 C.F.R. § 785.11. In general, an employer may not deduct the hours worked...Read Full Article - Remind Employees about Support Benefits To Reduce Their Stress
November 19, 2008 - Managers can help ease employees' concerns over the economy by reminding workers of the support services, such as employee assistance programs (EAPs), that their companies provide, reports the Wall Street Journal via Yahoo! Finance. Kevin Kelly, a directo...Read Full Article - Downturn in the Economy Has Employers Taking A Second Look at their Employe
November 19, 2008 - As of October 14, 2008, unemployment had increased to 3.66 million, employers slashed 159,000 jobs, and American retirement plans lost as much as $2 trillion in the past 15 months.
Employees are losing their jobs and their benefits, and Finan...Read Full Article - Title II of HIPAA (Part 2of 2)
September 17, 2008 - Title II contains HIPAA’s most influential rules and regulations. All of Title II’s various areas are designed to protect individuals’ privacy in regards to their sensitive health care information.
Privacy Rule: The Privacy Rule guarantees the prot...Read Full Article - Senate Passes ADA Amendments Unanimously
September 17, 2008 - The measure, according to a SHRM Government Affairs Department analysis:
• Clarifies the current requirement that impairment must substantially limit a major life activity, such as work, to be considered a disability.
• Prohibits conside...Read Full Article - CA Tobacco Control Program Reduces Health Care Costs
September 17, 2008 - Tobacco control programs can reduce smoking, and when successful, they reduce personal health care costs, according to a study released on August 25, 2008 in the open-access journal PLoS Medicine. The study specifically tracks the California Tobacco Con...Read Full Article - Expected Slowdown in Cost of Healthcare for 2009
September 17, 2008 - Marking the 6th consecutive year of slowing price rises, the 2009 Segal Health Plan Cost Trend Survey forecasts continued declines in health care cost trends for 2009. Most trend rates are projected to be lower in 2009 than in 2008, but cost trends for a...Read Full Article - Title I of HIPAA (Part I of 2)
August 28, 2008 - By now, just about all HR staffers should be well aware of HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act). Enacted by Congress in 1996, HIPAA imposed a series of regulations to guarantee health insurance to a broader population, as well as se...Read Full Article - Immigration Law & Employer Compliance: A New Era for Employer Liability...
August 28, 2008 - President George W. Bush signed an Executive Order requiring all federal government contractors to use E-Verify to confirm the employment authorization of new hires and persons assigned to perform work on future federal contracts. E-Verify is the interne...Read Full Article - Court Holds that FMLA Provision in Handbook May Create Employer Liability..
August 28, 2008 - The United States Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals in Peters v. Gilead Sciences, Inc., 2008 WL 2719579 (C.A. 7 (Ind.)), recently concluded that an employee may rely on language contained in an employee handbook to support his claim for family and medical ...Read Full Article - More Employers Use Incentives for Health Management Programs
July 23, 2008 - According to a new report, the number of larger U.S. employers using incentives to promote employer-sponsored health and wellness programs rose from 62 percent to 71 percent between 2007 and 2008. The report, Employee Health & Productivity Management Pr...Read Full Article - Employers Can Help Workers Avoid Heart Attacks, Stay Healthy
July 23, 2008 - The death of journalist Tim Russert has helped to focus attention on the role that employers and their corporate HR departments can play in preventing their workers from suffering crippling or fatal heart attacks, according to a leading prevention expert....Read Full Article - Consumerism Counts For Getting Health Care Value
July 23, 2008 - The key to health care consumerism is educating employees to live healthier lives, and to make better health care purchasing decisions. Programs can be designed that use financial incentives that give workers a stake in lowering costs and changing their ...Read Full Article - New 2009 Limits for Health Savings Accounts
July 14, 2008 - A part of the Tax Relief and Health Care Act of 2006 was new rules for Health Savings Accounts (H.S.A.s) One of the new rules was the release of cost-of-living adjustments by June 1st of every year for H.S.A.s. The IRS has released the 2009 limits for H.S...Read Full Article - CDHPs Help Slow Inflation of Health Costs
May 27, 2008 - According to Mercer’s National Survey of Employer-Sponsored Health Plans, March 2008, health cost increases have held steady for 3 years, and are likely to slow a bit in 2008. A major reason for this is the increase in enrollment in consumer directed heal...Read Full Article - Federal Family & Medical Leave Act of 1993 is Modified for Service Members
May 27, 2008 - On Jan 28, 2008, President Bush signed into law the 2008 National Defense Authorization Act, which among other things provides for up to six months of leave for family members caring for military veterans injured while on active duty in the US Armed Forc...Read Full Article - The High Cost of Diabetes...
May 27, 2008 - A study reveals costs have climbed 32% since 2002. Diabetes is costing Americans $174 billion annually, a figure that has increased by 32 percent since 2002, according to a study commissioned by the American Diabetes Association (ADA). The ADA, leaders f...Read Full Article - Purify your indoor air with houseplants and more...
May 27, 2008 - Change your air filter. Replace your standard filter with one that is pleated and electrostatic, with a minimum efficiency reporting value rating of 10 or higher, suggests Robert Moffitt, communications director for the American Lung Association Health H...Read Full Article - Florida "Guns At Work" Law Set to Take Effect July 1, 2008
May 27, 2008 - The new law in Florida that prevents employers from prohibiting employees licensed to carry concealed weapons from keeping firearms in their locked vehicles at work is set to take effect July 1, 2008.
The Florida Chamber of Commerce and the Florid...Read Full Article - Three Ways for Managers to Thoughtfully Handle Disagreement
May 27, 2008 - How to express disagreement without alienating coworkers? Simple wording and phrasing can improve your results.
1) Instead of saying, “Do it this way”, try saying, “You might want to consider this,” or “Have you considered looking at this in anot...Read Full Article - Employers Controlling Health Costs
May 27, 2008 - Employers are experiencing success in lowering health care costs by utilizing High Deductible Health Plans (HDHPs), Health Reimbursement Arrangements (HRAs) , and Health Savings Plans (HSAs).
Jeff Shovlin, VP of corporate benefits for Las Vegas ba...Read Full Article - Ready or Not, Here They Come: Health Savings Accounts
April 02, 2008 - Whether you love them, hate them, or don’t know anything about them, Health Savings Accounts (H.S.A.’s) are the health insurance industry’s latest and greatest answer to help solve the crisis of runaway health insurance premiums. H.S.A’s were established ...Read Full Article - Attention Shoppers: Your Appointment is Ready
April 02, 2008 - If you haven’t seen them yet, you will. Walk-in health clinics are popping up across the country at retail stores including Wal-Mart, Target, CVS, Publix and others. These clinics typically lease space from their host stores and allow customers to see a n...Read Full Article - Have You Protected Your Most Valuable Asset?
April 02, 2008 - According to a new survey by the non-profit LIFE Foundation, 70% of working American adults say they could not afford to take off one month or less of unpaid vacation before everyday expenses would force them to return to work. Nineteen percent of the res...Read Full Article
2009
- Consumer Driven Health Plans Continue to Grow
December 09, 2009 - According to William R Boyles, editor and publisher of The Consumer Driven Market, in 2009 "large employers began opting for CDH plans in droves." More than 10 million Americans are now covered by HSAs, Boyles noted, and more than 7 million are covered b...Read Full Article - Consumer-Driven Care Reduces Health Costs
December 09, 2009 - Consumer-driven health plans empower individuals by taking money away from third-party payers and putting it in the hands of consumers to spend as they wish. Now that one out of five American consumers under age 65 is paying some of his or her own bills ...Read Full Article - Promote a Healthier Lifestyle in the Workplace
December 09, 2009 - "According to the World Health Organization, the United States is the fattest nation, with over half of adults overweight or obese. Why is this a concern, particularly for employers? The answer is also obvious - obesity, which is itself classified as a c...Read Full Article - Obese Account for Greatest Jump in Healthcare
December 09, 2009 - Healthcare spending on obese patients in the United States has ballooned, growing more than 80 percent over a five-year period, researchers have found.
Obesity report shows adults continue to pack on pounds in the U.S. Spending on the heaviest m...Read Full Article - Stimulus Bill COBRA Highlights
December 09, 2009 - The Stimulus Bill provisions that took effect on February 17, 2009 require special COBRA treatment for "assistance eligible individuals." See "Stimulus Bill COBRA Amendments Require Immediate Group Health Plan Action" for more information.
...Read Full Article - Handling Employee Benefit Communication
December 09, 2009 - The human resources department traditionally spends a great deal of time developing written benefit information within the corporate communications structure. Most companies spent a great deal of resources on general benefit information. Since the role of...Read Full Article - Employee Benefits Are More Than Health Insurance
December 09, 2009 - Providing health insurance is a great benefit your organization offers employees, but it is not the only benefit employees are looking for when contemplating different employment options. There are other insurance benefits such as dental, vision, life ins...Read Full Article - The Importance of Improving Employee Health
December 09, 2009 - Shackled to desks, most Americans walk much less than the minimum recommended guidelines of 10,000 steps a day set by the Surgeon General. As a result we have an overweight population with all of the related health concerns and a $100 billion annual healt...Read Full Article - Physical Activity Programs are Money Well Spent
December 09, 2009 - Community-based physical activity interventions designed to promote more active lifestyles among adults are cost-effective in reducing heart disease, stroke, colorectal and breast cancers, and type 2 diabetes, according to a study by the Centers for Disea...Read Full Article