U.S. District Judge Amos L. Mazzant of the Eastern District of Texas issued a nationwide temporary injunction today blocking the overtime rule from being enforced on its scheduled effective date of December 1, 2016. The overtime rule was expected to provide over four million currently salaried workers with overtime pay. In particular, the overtime rule … Continue reading Overtime Rule Blocked!
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) recently announced a new I-9 Form effective January 22, 2017. Employers may continue using the current I-9 Form, with a revision date of 03/08/2013 N and pictured to the right, until January 21, 2017. After January 21, 2017, all previous versions … Continue reading New I-9 Form For 2017
Maintaining an appropriate compensation plan can be one of the most important practices in the attracting candidates as well as hiring and retaining great employees. Compensation plans also promote fairness and facilitates the ability to evaluate performance. Additionally, it can protect the employer from expensive litigation as well as avoidance from fines and penalties for non-compliance of the … Continue reading Compensation Plan: 5 Big Mistakes Employers Make
Increases Generally Apply to Civil Penalties Assessed After August 1, 2016 The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has published an interim final rule adjusting for inflation the civil monetary penalties assessed for violations of the Administrative Simplification Rules under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). The increases generally apply to … Continue reading Penalties Increased for Violations of HIPAA’s Administrative Simplification Rules
Steps to Conduct Criminal Background Checks Special Note: Many states have laws which prohibit or limit an employer’s use of consumer credit reports, criminal records, or certain other components of a “background check.” Certain states also prohibit discrimination based on credit or criminal history information. Be sure to check the applicable laws in your state … Continue reading Are Your Background Checks Legal?
Federal law requires employers to hire only individuals who may legally work in the United States—either U.S. citizens or foreign citizens who have the necessary authorization. To comply with the law, employers must verify the identity and employment authorization of each person they hire by completing and retaining Form I-9 (Employment Eligibility Verification). Employers who … Continue reading I-9 Forms – Are You Compliant?
Oftentimes employers assign managers to interview potential employment candidates without considering the consequences of their asking illegal interview questions. An illegal question is one that seeks information the employer is not entitled to request and/or not entitled to use as a basis for job decisions. Most illegal questions cross the line by inquiring about protected … Continue reading Illegal Interview Questions: Are You Guilty?
Increases Generally Apply to Civil Money Penalties Assessed After August 1, 2016 The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has published an interim final rule adjusting for inflation the civil monetary penalties assessed for violations of a number of federal laws. As a result, penalties will increase for employers that do not comply with certain requirements … Continue reading Alert! Penalty Increase: FMLA, FLSA, OSHA Effective Aug. 1
According to the DOL Wage and Hour Website, on May 18, 2016, President Obama and Secretary Perez announced the publication of the Department of Labor’s final rule updating the overtime regulations, which will automatically extend overtime pay protections to over 4 million workers within the first year of implementation. This long-awaited update will result in … Continue reading DOL Releases Overtime Final Rule
About a year ago, I received a call from a company (400 employees), stating they were having problems with high turnover, especially among key providers. Additionally, the CEO stated the company recently faced litigation and really needed help with compliance. Based on our entire conversation, I recommended having Expert Human Resources (EHR) conduct an HR … Continue reading Increase Your Bottom Line Without Adding New Customers – A Case Study
