http://www.nierenberg.com/articles Ideas and Methods to Improve Your Workplace Tue, 06 May 2008 16:15:42 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en The U.S. Department of Labor today unveiled the FirstStep Recordkeeping, Reporting and Notices e-laws Advisor. By using this tool, employers can determine which recordkeeping, reporting, and notice requirements apply to them under the major laws administered by the federal Labor Department. This new advisory service has been integrated ... http://www.nierenberg.com/articles/2008/05/additional-resources-from-us-department-of-labor/39/ The federal Family and Medical Leave Act has been amended to add two types of required leaves of absence. The 2008 National Defense Authorization Act ("N.D.A.A.") amends the F.M.L.A. to provide a new 26 week leave to care for a family member who is in the military and is ... http://www.nierenberg.com/articles/2008/02/fmla-amended-26-weeks-for-military-related-medical-reasons/37/ Minnesota’s highest court has issued its opinion in Lee v. Fresenius Medical Care, Inc. This case addresses the question of whether an employer can attach conditions to an employee’s being paid for accrued but unused vacation leave. Susan Lee worked for Fresenius Medical Care, and had accrued unused ... http://www.nierenberg.com/articles/2007/11/limitations-on-vacation-leave-payouts/36/ A revised Federal minimum wage poster, reflecting the recently enacted minimum wage increases, is now available free of charge on the Department of Labor’s Web site. Every employer of employees subject to the Fair Labor Standard Act’s minimum wage provisions must post a notice explaining the Act in a ... http://www.nierenberg.com/articles/2007/07/new-minimum-wage-poster-and-requirements/35/ An increasing amount of an organization’s information is recorded electronically. Electronically stored data is as important as any other form of information to assessing, pursuing, or defending employment claims. There are, however, some unique legal issues that arise due to the specific nature of electronic data. In ... http://www.nierenberg.com/articles/2007/03/preserving-electronic-and-other-evidence/33/ UnumProvident has published an interesting paper, "Reducing Lost Time: The Correlation Between Family-Medical Leave and Short-Term Disability." The paper describes the insurer's 2005 study of "the various connections between lost time and the benefits that are paid to an individual during an absence." The study included lost time ... http://www.nierenberg.com/articles/2006/11/co-managing-fmla-and-short-term-disability/32/ Quick Summary: Covered employers are not required to resurvey their workforces pursuant to the revised ethnic and racial categories until the reporting period ending September 30, 2008, one year past the original effective date. Other aspects of the revised EEO-1 procedure continue to take effect with the close ... http://www.nierenberg.com/articles/2006/11/new-new-rules-for-filing-eeo-1-reports-in-2007/26/ The way that management initially handles a complaint of workplace misconduct can affect the likelihood of later litigation. Read Before the Investigation—The Importance of Intake from Sepler & Associates. http://www.nierenberg.com/articles/2006/11/complaint-intake-protocol-part-of-comprehensive-risk-management/24/ The U.S. Department of Labor posts a substantial amount of guidance for employers on its web site. This is the current list of topics on which the Agency provides free compliance information: Drug-Free Workplace Advisor Family & Medical Leave Act (FMLA) Advisor Federal Contractor Compliance Advisor FirstStep Employment Law Advisor ... http://www.nierenberg.com/articles/2006/10/help-from-the-department-of-labor/23/ COBRA, the federal Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act, requires that administrators of covered health plans notify their terminated employees of a limited option to continue the group health benefits they had before termination. Substantial liability can be at risk if the employee asserts that he or she never received ... http://www.nierenberg.com/articles/2006/08/proving-compliance-with-cobra/22/