Legal matters: retaliation – We’ve often directed your attention to Jottings by an Employer’s Lawyer where attorney blogger Michael Fox discusses legal issues related to employment law. Recently, he has featured a series of posts about recent court decisions on the matter of retaliation, a hot issue. First, he posted about the Supreme Court’s recent decisions on retaliation. One case dealt with age and one with race. He next reports on a retaliation decision by a jury in Cambridge, Mass that resulted in a $4.5 million award being granted to the plaintiff. Finally, he deals with a case heard by the 5th Circuit related to retaliation under the FLSA.
Supervisor mistakes – HR Daily Advisor brings us more in the way of supervisor mistakes – this time, related to documentation. Part one deals with 6 Common Mistakes That Weaken Documentation and part two deals with mistakes that are easy to make but hard to defend.
Firefighter wellness program saves dollars – Orange County Fire Authority has seen a 90% participation level after instituting a comprehensive voluntary wellness program that includes disease screening, fitness testing, blood work, and other components. Since instituting the program, its workers’ comp reserve has dropped by approximately $1 million.
Gas costs – We recently posted about the price of gas and its effect on worker productivity, along with some suggestions for employers to help mitigate commuter pain. Lydell Bridgeford of Employee Benefit News reports on SHRM research on enhanced commuter benefits that employers are putting into place. For example, 42% of companies increased their mileage reimbursement to the Internal Revenue Service maximum of 50.5 cents per mile, which is a marked increase over the 13% of employers who met the IRS mileage reimbursement cap last year. The research polled employers on other measures they are taking to help lessen the economic burden on commuting employees.
Global benefits – Employee Benefit News takes a look at employee benefits around the world – useful if you have global offices, but also interesting in examining benefit trends. For example, it is interesting to see that in Japan, the government is now requiring started requiring that companies scree employees aged between 40 and 74 years old for metabolic syndrome, a combination of medical disorders, including obesity, high blood pressure, high blood sugar levels and high blood fat levels.
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