The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has issued a directive changing the required fall protection systems for residential construction. This directive, effective June 16, 2011, requires the use of conventional fall protection systems in residential construction activities six...

On January 11, the Department of Homeland Security's U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services released a new guide to the Form I-9 process.  I-9s are required of all employers to verify the employment of each new hire, and are used as part of audits to curb illegal immigration.

The HR professionals...

The owners of a concrete company in California have been charged with 15 felony charges of payroll tax evasion and workers' compensation insurance fraud. The charges are based on allegations that the company intentionally under reported wages by disguising the funds as payments made to independent...

Many employers reimburse their employees for mileage driven in an employee’s personal vehicle for business purposes. For 2010, the business mileage reimbursement rate set by the Internal Revenue Service is 50 cents per mile. Starting Jan. 1, 2011, however, these rates for the use of a car, van,...

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) protects individuals with a physical or mental disability that affects a major life activity. This is true even if the condition is not visibly apparent or is in remission. This is evidenced by a recent federal court ruling in Indiana that an employee was...

Regular attendance at work is an essential function of most jobs. However, there are many legitimate reasons why employees cannot be at work every day. In order to help control absenteeism, employers should have a policy that addresses issues associated with attendance. These issues include...

• Payroll and employee benefits administration. Management 2000’s employee benefits advisors can make sure companies comply with employment laws regulating payroll and benefits, such as the Fair Labor Standards Act and the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.

• Recruiting and retention. The HR...

The Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) recommends that companies develop workplace safety and health programs. Although OSHA does not require employers to have written safety and health programs, many states do. Creating an effective safety and health program can not only help...

A fundamental principle in human resources administration is “if you don’t write it down, it didn’t happen.”  Documentation is critical, in terms of evaluating employee performance as well as defending against allegations of unfair or discriminatory treatment.  It may take a few minutes to document...

Under the Fair Labor Standards Act, “outside sales” employees are exempt from the overtime provisions in the Act.  It would seem reasonable to assume, therefore, that pharmaceutical sales representatives who call on physicians would fall into this exempt category.  The United States Department of...

Regular attendance at work is an essential function of most jobs. However, there are many legitimate reasons why employees cannot be at work every day. In order to help control absenteeism, employers should have a policy that addresses issues associated with attendance. These issues include...

Hiring incentives, health care reform, rising unemployment costs and new protections for employees . . .these are but a few of the current human resources issues employers must address. Many employers, especially those with smaller operations, often do not have the time or resources to effectively...

When an employee leaves a company and owes the employer (i.e for uniforms, borrowed vacation or sick time, etc.), what’s an employer to do? Unfortunately, many employers believe they can simply withhold the amount owed from the employee’s final paycheck. In most states, however, that type of...

Most employers have numerous policies and rules of conduct for their employees. However, many either enforce them inconsistently or not at all.  This can become a problem when an employer decides a particular employee is not performing up to expectations or demonstrates inappropriate conduct. If...

On-line social media, such as social networking websites and blogs, can be highly effective business tools for sharing ideas and exchanging information. However, they can present challenges for employers trying to balance theresponsibility to monitor and respond to employee misuse of social media...

The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration recently proposed a number of regulatory revisions. OSHA’s goal in requesting these revisions is to remove or revise requirements that are confusing, outdated, duplicative, or inconsistent. These proposed changes include a number of revisions...

Regular attendance at work is an essential function of most jobs. However, there are many legitimate reasons why employees cannot be at work every day. In order to help control absenteeism, employers should have a policy that addresses issues associated with attendance. These issues include...

The Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division has issued a new interpretation of compensable time for workers changing into or out of protective clothing. This changes the prior interpretation that time employees spend donning and doffing protective clothing was not compensable under the...

Beginning in June, 2011, the Social Security Administration will begin changing the way nine-digit numbers are issued for Social Security cards. 

The numbers will be chosen randomly and the first three digits will no longer designate where a Social Security card is issued. Card numbers can start...