The Office of Human Rights and the Commission on Human Rights made amendments to Chapter 5, Employment Guidelines, of Title 4 (Human Rights) of the District of Columbia Municipal Regulations (DCMR). The principal purpose of the amendments was to provide guidelines for the protected category of genetic information and the rights of breastfeeding mothers under the protected category of sex or gender. In addition, a number of technical amendments to other provisions of this chapter were also made. Title 4, Chapter 5, Sections 500 through 599, as amended effective July 31, 2009. Paras 9-20,128.01 through 9-20,128.22.

Nondiscrimination on State Contracts

An Executive Order now prohibits discrimination in state contracts. Executive Order 2009-09 reaffirms the state’s prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, age, color, religion, sex or national origin, and expands rights to Indian tribes and religious organizations under federal law. Executive Order No. 2009-09 supersedes Executive Order 99-4 and amends Executive Order 75-5, signed October 20, effective immediately. Para 3-23,400.

Alaska’s taxable wage base for 2010 will be $34,100. This represents an increase of $1,400 from the 2009 taxable wage base amount of $32,700 (AK ¶2-170

Unemployment Insurance Law
For 2007, the minimum rate is 0.12%, and the maximum rate is 5.4%, except that employers participating in the short-time compensation program will be subject to a maximum rate of 6.4%. New employers pay 2.7% in 2007. The noncharge adjustment ratio is .0026, the excess payment ratio is .0016, the fund size ratio is .0000, the gross benefit ratio is .0115, the multiplier is .3652, and the final adjustment ratio is .0012 (FL 10-1700).

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

The Texas Workers’ Compensation Commission is now the Texas Department of Insurance, Workers’ Compensation Division. The state has recently revised all Worker’s Compensation Posters, required for all employers to post. Employers are required to begin using the new forms no later than 5/1/2006.

Texas employers can download the new forms free of charge HERE.

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.