Please Login to view this Content.(Not a member? Join Today!)

Imagine logging on to your computer on your day off to catch up on a little work. And there, on your screen, is a friendly little pop-up reminder from your company: “It’s the weekend.”

This actually happened to Lorie Baker, a director at PricewaterouseCoopers, according to the article “You’re Cut Off” by Inara Verzemnieks in the October issue of Working Mother magazine. Hoping to reduce work stress, PWC sends the reminder note to curb weekend work-related emailing, according to the article.

It sounds counterintuitive, but some companies are starting to see that stressed out, burned out employees aren’t very good for the bottom line.

Research shows job stress is linked to depression. And a new study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association shows stress at work is linked to a second heart attack. Those who returned to work in a stressful job had two times the risk of a new heart attack, compared to those who returned to a low-stress job, according to the Canadian researchers.

The study authors recommend that heart attack patients, who return to work, ask for help in reducing work stress.

But a few companies, are proactively stepping up to help. Here are some innovative strategies they’re using, according to Verzemnieks’ article in Working Mother magazine:

• To reduce email overload, The University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics in Madison has a policy that encourages employees to have a conversation rather than send an email.
• Boston Consulting Group monitors employees’ hours. Those who average more than 55 hours a week over five consecutive weeks are reported to management.
• At the outdoor clothing, equipment and acessories company Patagonia, the day’s surf report is posted above the front reception desk, the “boardroom” stores surfboards and particularly good surf conditions might be announced over the company’s loudspeaker.
• At tax and accounting firm Ernst & Young, employees receive an annual voicemail message from global chairman and CEO James Turley, stressing the importance of a vacation. If you don’t take one, someone from human resources will come and talk to you.

PricewaterhouseCoopers recently distributed an employee handbook entitled “Rest and Relaxation: The Value of Time Off.”

“Among the instructions: Try not to call the office to discuss business matters or check voicemail or email. You are either on vacation or you’re at work you shouldn’t try to be in two places at one time. And perhaps most important: “Enjoy your family, friends or solitude.”

Source: Jule Deardorff, Chicago Tribune.

As many as 18% of U.S. companies do not offer severance for regular non-executive employees, according to a new poll. A news release said the study by WorldatWork and Innovative Compensation and Benefits Concepts LLC (ICBC), an HR consulting firm, found that of those employers with a severance plan, 71% use years of service to figure the amount of severance payments. Nearly one-third of companies (31%) offer a week’s salary per year of service, while one out of every five employers (20%) provides two weeks of salary for every year.
 
Employers also consider an employee’s position (21%) and pay (17%), according to the announcement.
 
Of the companies paying severance, 42% offer a three-tiered structure focusing on the top executive, all other employees. The poll found that only 37% of surveyed companies have detailed severance plans and policies in writing.

Also, annual reviews of non-executive severance plans are rare. In fact, 69% of organizations have not reviewed their severance plans in at least the past year, while 13% reported having never reviewed their plans.

Study author Bob Jones asserted in the news release that annual reviews of an organization’s severance and change-in-control plans, especially because of the size and importance of these plans, should be conducted by Compensation Committees. “This is a best practice in general — in conjunction with a tally sheet analysis of the top executives’ Total Rewards — in order to ensure that plan costs are being prudently monitored,” said Jones. “This is best done by making this topic an agenda item that is covered on a regular, recurring basis.”

The Severance and Change-in-Control Practices 2007 survey was conducted in June 2007. Surveys were sent electronically to 4,590 WorldatWork members with a response rate of 11% (523 responses).

We’ve recently fielded several questions from subscribers asking about the Employment Eligibility Verification Form, known as Form I-9. The questions arise because the expiration date on Form I-9 in current use is March 31, 2007.

The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has yet to update the form with a new expiration date. The agency says it is working on updating the form and that employers should continue to use the current version in the meantime.

“The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) control number on the current Form I-9 expired March 31, 2007,” the agency says on its website. “USCIS is working on issuing a Form I-9 with an updated control number. This expiration does not affect employers’ requirement to comply with employment eligibility verification responsibilities, and employers should continue to use the current version of the Form I-9 until an updated form is posted on this website.”

When the agency publishes the updated form, we’ll notify purchasers, who will be able to download it from the private Download Area of YourEmployeeHandbook.com.

In August, the Department of Homeland Security announced that it planned on publishing a rule that would reduce the number of documents employers must accept to confirm the identity and work eligibility of their employees. Such a change would take months to go through the regulatory process before becoming effective.

Currently, there are no fewer than 29 categories of documents that can be used to establish identity and work eligibility. The department says the sheer quantity of documents is an invitation for fraud because employers lack the capacity to verify the authenticity of all the documents.

Wooing and hiring the best talent is becoming more difficult by the week. As employees entertain multiple opportunities and offers, sometimes you simply may run out of money. What to do when you’re short on cash but big on intention?

HiringRevolution.com offers these tips on putting together a more attractive package for quality applicants:

  Extra vacation days.Extra PTO is the first place to start, every time.
  Elevated title. If your firm is loose with titles anyway, no harm here.
  Eat the parking cost. The cost is generally nominal to a corporation but goes far in showing your genuine intention.

Read the rest of this entry

Please Login to view this Content.(Not a member? Join Today!)

Hewitt Associates has found the annual holiday bonus as a way to reward employees is losing favor as 63% of surveyed companies said they will not award holiday bonuses this year.

According to a news release from Hewitt, 90% of companies indicated they are relying on variable pay plans (performance-based bonuses that must be re-earned annually) to show appreciation for employees this year. In 2007, actual company spending on variable pay as a percentage of payroll is 11.8%, and spending on variable pay in 2008 is projected to remain strong at 11.6%, the release said.

The 2007 holiday study of more than 350 organizations revealed that more than half (53%) have never offered a holiday bonus, and 10% have discontinued their programs. Companies that discontinued their programs said they did so primarily due to cost (50%), development of pay-for-performance programs (37%), or difficulty in administering bonus programs (16%).

Of those companies that never offered a holiday bonus program, 54% said that all rewards are tied to performance, 34% said they never offered one due to cost, and 29% never considered such a program.

Of the 35% of companies that will offer a holiday bonus program in 2007, 42% said they will provide gift cards, 41% will award cash, 25% will give employees a gift of food, and 20% will give some type of catalog gift.

Reasons for providing holiday bonuses, according to the Hewitt survey, included:

• To say thank you and/or show appreciation (69%),
• To maintain tradition (11%), or
• To boost morale (16%).

More than two-thirds (70%) of companies surveyed who offer holiday bonuses said that all employee groups are eligible, while 17% said only full-time employees are eligible. Holiday bonus programs were most prevalent in the insurance industry (61%), followed by health care (50%), manufacturing (39%), retail (37%), financial services (16%), and the pharmaceutical industry (8%).

In addition, Hewitt found 70% of surveyed organizations plan to host a holiday party this year, up from 65% last year. Of these, 24% will spend $5,000 or less on their parties; 12% will pay between $5,000 and $10,000; and 27% will spend between $10,000 and $25,000. Fifty-six percent of companies said they hold holiday parties after work hours and 65% hold them at offsite locations.

Please Login to view this Content.(Not a member? Join Today!)

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) finally revised the I-9 employment verification form and the Handbook for Employers.

It is required that all employers complete an I-9 form for all employees within the first three days of employment. The new I-9 reduces the number of documents an employee may present to prove employment eligibility in the United States.

Five List A documents, which prove both identity and employment eligibility, were eliminated and can no longer be accepted by employers:

• Certificate of U.S. Citizenship (Form N-560 or N-570);
• Certificate of Naturalization (Form N-550 or N-570);
• Alien Registration Receipt Card (Form I-151);
• Unexpired Reentry Permit (Form I-327); and
• Unexpired Refugee Travel Document (Form I-571).

Form I-766, the Employment Authorization Document, was added to List A.

A major change is in the instructions for Section 1 that the employee is required to fill out. The worker is no longer required to provide their Social Security number unless the employer participates in the USCIS Electronic Employment Eligibility Verification Program (E-Verify).

All previous versions of the I-9 form and Handbook for Employers are no longer valid and should not be used.

Employers must use the amended Form I-9, dated June 5, 2007, for all individuals hired on or after November 7, 2007. However, USCIS recognizes that employers should be afforded a period of time to transition to the amended Form I-9. The Department of Homeland Security will publish a Notice in the Federal Register announcing that it will not seek penalties against an employer for using a previous version of the Form I-9 during a 30-day transition period that begins on date of publication of the Notice.

After the transition period, employers who fail to use Form I-9 (Rev. 06/05/07)N may be subject to all applicable penalties. Employers do not need to complete new forms for existing employees, but must use the new forms for new hires or if an employee is required to re-verify employment eligibility.

The new I-9 form and the revised Handbook for Employers are available online at www.uscis.gov. Purchasers of Your Employee Handbook have already been sent the updated form and manual; future purchasers will receive it in their download package.

Many visitors to YourEmployeeHandbook.com are preparing to hire their company’s first “real”, that is, non-family, employee. Hiring your first employee can be overwhelming. You may not know where to begin or what ou must cover in order to avoid potential legal and financial liabilities.

We’ve listed a few of the most critical steps are listed below, however, when hiring for the first time, review your state’s employment regulations with your business advisor and tax specialist to avoid employment pitfalls.

When hiring, first obtain an employer identification number from the IRS. Download the EIN form from the IRS website at www.irs.gov.

With employees, you will have to pay state unemployment compensation taxes. These payments go to your state’s unemployment compensation fund, which provides short-term relief to workers who lose their jobs. Each state has a different way of handling unemployment compensation reporting. The Employer’s Poster Kit included in Your Employee Handbook includes a comprehensive 50-state listing of contact information for state unemployment offices.

You’ill need to withhold a portion of each employee’s income and deposit it with the IRS, as well as making Social Security and Medicare tax payments. The IRS has a special site for employers at www.irs.gov/businesses. Download IRS Publication 15, Employer’s Tax Guide, which is a very helpful guide.

You must also comply with the requirements of the Occupational Safety and Health Act or OSHA to ensure a workplace free of hazards, train workers on safety regulations, notify government administrators about serious workplace accidents, and keep detailed safety records. Rules vary depending on the type of industry. Go to OSHA’s website for specific information on your industry at www.osha.gov. Once you’ve researched OSHA’s requirements, you can use the basic Safety Program included with Your Employee Handbook to document your safety efforts.

Many federal and state government agencies require you to post notices providing information on worker rights for your employees. For information on the posters you are required to post, visit the Department of Labor website at www.dol.gov or refer to the Employer’s Poster Kit included with Your Employee Handbook.

For each employee you hire, create a file in which to keep job-related documents, such as job applications, employment offers, IRS Form W-4, performance evaluations, and sign-up forms for employee benefits. Medical records should be kept in a separate, confidential file, in a locked cabinet. You also need to keep I-9 Forms, which document an employee’s immigration status, in separate files and save the documents for at least one year after the employee has separated from your company. These forms, and many other HR forms, are available in the Companion Forms publication, included with Your Employee Handbook.

It is also is an excellent idea to provide a copy of Your Employee Handbook to each new (and existing) employee. Make it clear that employment with your company is “at-will”, and provide the new hire with a copy of the Handbook Acknowledgement Form to sign, and return to be held in their file.

These are a few of the critical first steps employers need to take when hiring employees. Following these steps will help reduce or eliminate problems with employee discipline, terminations and lawsuits in the future.