[01.17 | Keywords: Human Resources, Employment Policies, Presenteeism] Do you ever go to work when you’re not feeling 100%? (Please don’t!) Presenteeism – the problem of workers being on the job but, because of illness or other medical conditions, not fully functioning ñ can cut individual productivity by one-third or more, making it a much costlier problem than its productivity-reducing counterpart, absenteeism. Presenteeism isnít always apparent. While it is easy to see when someone is absent from work, itís difficult to tell when (or how much) an illness or medical condition hinders someoneís performance. As a result, presenteeism often goes unrecognized by… Read More »
Source: Bob Evnen, Woods & Aitken LLC, 09.2016 | Keywords: Policies, Overtime] The U.S. Department of Labor has issued a new rule raising the salary floor for white-collar overtime exemptions to $47,476 per year. The new salary floor becomes effective on December 1, 2016. The current salary floor is $23,600. This change will have no effect on the overtime exemption that applies to many employees of ag equipment dealers. Under current law, “any salesman, partsman or mechanic primarily engaged in selling or servicing…farm implements” is exempt from overtime pay if their employer is “primarily engaged in the business of selling… Read More »
[Source: Bob Evnen, Woods & Aitken LLP, 07.2016 | Keywords: DOL, Employment Policies, Overtime] Recently, the U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division (DOL) released the highly anticipated final rule amending the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) overtime pay regulations. The newly released rule consists of 496 pages of explanatory preambleÖand 12 pages of regulatory amendments. The nuts and bolts of what you need to know about the momentous changes contained within the rule are as follows: 1. The new rule is effective December 1, 2016. You must act now to implement any necessary changes prior to the effective… Read More »
[Author: Bob Evnen, Woods & Aitken LLP, 2016 | Keywords: Human Resources, Attendance] We receive many calls on the I-NEDA Human Resources Helpline concerning employee attendance issues: tardiness, not at work enough, breaks and lunches. It’s always a challenge to manage employees without running people off. One example is hard-to-find service techs. At the same time, employees who don’t show up on time every day ready to go to work impact service quality, timeliness of service and dealership costs. Over the years I’ve found that an employer can rank employees on measures of attendance, whether it’s showing up for work on… Read More »
[Source: Burr Alert, RWEP, 2016 | Keywords: Human Resources, Cell Phone] It is likely that most, if not all, of your employees bring a personal cell phone to the office. Determining when it is/isn’t acceptable for them to use cell phones at work requires a careful balancing act. If you haven’t revisited your cell phone policy recently – or don’t have one – here are some things to consider. Legal Risks Smart phones have become so commonplace in today’s workplace that employers shouldn’t ignore the legal risks they pose. Claims, claims and more claims. More and more litigation (or arbitration)… Read More »
[Source: Bob Evnen, Woods & Aitken LLP, 03.2016 | Keywords: Human Resources, Employment Policies, Attendance] We receive many calls on the INEDA Human Resources Helpline concerning employee attendance issues: tardiness, not at work enough, breaks and lunches. It’s always a challenge to manage employees. Employees who don’t show up on time every day ready to go to work impact service quality, timeliness of service and dealership costs. Over the years I’ve found that an employer can rank employees on measures of attendance, whether it’s showing up for work on time, being gone from work altogether or taking advantage of breaks and… Read More »