A common trend among poor performing employees is to suddenly raise allegations of harassment or discrimination by lodging complaints with the HR department - at precisely the time he/she is being held accountable for poor performance or behavior. Nevertheless, it is important to bear in mind that even though an employee's complaint may not have any merit, the complaint must still be investigated. Also, if the employee should suffer adverse treatment after having made a complaint, the ...

• Cost savings of paycards, direct deposit, and plain paper paystubs as opposed to processing paper check stock
• Combined with a direct deposit program, the payment of wages becomes virtually paperless
• Can reduce check fraud
• Can reduce escheat issues
• Reduces the need of employees to take time from work to cash checks
• Reduces lost checks
• Benefit for Human

With regard to terminating COBRA coverage, the employer (or plan administrator) must send a COBRA termination notice to the qualified beneficiary that includes:

• The date COBRA coverage will end
• The reason for termination. Ensuring human resources compliance during this process is a key

Employers should keep in mind that they cannot request full medical records or unrelated medical info. That said, employers should keep records of:

• Request date
• Documentation received. All health data must be handled according to HIPAA privacy standards.
• Interactive process discussions
• Decisions made. This

In situations where the employer believes a criminal act has occurred, engaging the police immediately is critical. In engaging the police, it allows the company to leverage local law enforcement to investigate the case by obtaining a police report. The police report provides the company with an official document that states what the facts of the case are and/or the incident that actually occurred. Additionally, the police report “opens up a case“ for law enforcement and gives ...

There are three types of cash or deferred arrangements:

• Salary Deferral Plans
• Cash or Deferred Plans
• Roth Deferral Plans

Salary Deferral Plans Salary deferral plans are the most common type of cash or deferred

Under the Family and Medical Leave Act FMLA, one of the most critical protections for employees is the right to job restoration after returning from qualifying leave. Below are some details of the rules for FMLA job restoration — including exceptions, timing, and what employers can (and cannot) do. Maintaining human resources compliance ...

• Perform essential job functions
• Enjoy equal employment opportunities
• Participate in the job application process

To be a qualified employee under the PWFA, the worker must be able to perform all of the job's essential functions, either now or in the near future. The PWFA regulations defining “essential functions“ adopt the language used in the EEOC's ADA regulations. Thus, essential functions are fundamental ...

Generally speaking, Cafeteria Plans allow employees to pay their share of insurance premiums, certain out-of-pocket medical and dependent care expenses, and certain other benefits with pre-tax dollars versus paying these same expenses with after-tax dollars. Thus, the employee saves federal income taxes and FICA taxes on the total amount paid through a Cafeteria Plan. And, in all states except New Jersey, the employee also saves state ...

To determine a participant's vested account balance, the participant's vesting service must be calculated in one of two ways:

• The actual hours method, or
• The elapsed time method

If actual hours of service are counted, the number of hours of service required for a “year of service“ may not be more than 1,000. If the plan uses the elapsed time method, an employee will be credited with a “year of service“ for each period of

Below are some tips regarding tracking and managing FMLA leave:

• Define how you measure the 12-month period (e.g., calendar year, rolling backward, etc.)
• Carefully track and document intermittent and reduced schedule leave usage. This is a critical area for human resources compliance.
• Ensure supervisors

As part of the organizational complaint procedures for a Internal Investigations, it is also a good best practice to develop a Statement of Complaint document.

A good Statement of Complaint document will ask for important information to clarify a complaint and to identify the level of significance. This will help employers identify the true nature - and the seriousness - of the ...

• It is a private-sector employer with 50 or more employees in 20 or more workweeks in the current or previous calendar year
• It is a public agency (regardless of the number of employees)
• It is a public or private elementary or secondary school (regardless of the number of employees)

• Voluntary or involuntary termination of employment (except for gross misconduct)