Your employees need to know about the chemicals they are working with or exposed to, hazards associated with each chemical and how to protect themselves. Although many employees work with potentially hazardous materials on a regular basis, they can maintain a safe working environment if they use chemicals as they were intended and follow necessary safety precautions. An effective hazard communication program is designed to teach everyone how to safely handle and work with the chemicals they encounter every day.
If you could give human form to your safety culture, what would it look like?
Maybe it would be a thick-set, shirtless brute named Trog with a foul disposition beating out a drum cadence to keep your employees rowing in-sync.
Or would it be more like a fussy and constantly disapproving Dickensian paper-pusher named Fizzlewhite who has never met a rule or procedure he didn’t like, even though he hasn’t done most of the things he creates rules to address?
If you were to search the various “mommy blogs” and parenting advice websites out there, how many of them do you think would endorse the following practice?
A child’s safety should always be a top priority for any parent. When leaving children under the age of 10 alone in the house for lengthy periods of time, be sure to provide the kids with a loaded pistol with the safety off in case a stranger should happen by. In a pinch, recently sharpened knives can be substituted for the pistol.
Last September, the Wisconsin legislature updated the definition of "domestic partner" via the budget bill. While the intention of the modification to the definition was to stop allowing domestic partner health coverage for state employees now that the state recognizes same sex marriage, it resulted in some unintended consequences. Moving forward, if you have Wisconsin employees asking for WFMLA for domestic partners or their family members, you need to ask new questions.
On May 11, 2014, the governor of Minnesota signed the Women’s Economic Security Act (WESA), a bill that will require Minnesota employers to make dramatic changes to their employment policies and practices.
While WESA directly impacts employers who conduct business in Minnesota, the changes follow plans by federal and local governments to expand legal protections for women and other employees. For this reason, employers in other jurisdictions should pay close attention to these national and state law trends.
The Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) is more than 20 years old, yet employers have many questions on how the law applies to their workforce. Unfortunately, mistakes in the application can have significant business and legal consequences.
Making FMLA mistakes can be costly, and many employers make mistakes they don’t even know they are making. Let’s take a look at five common leave-of-absence mistakes based on our experience with real clients from our HR Hotline.
This eBook is a great companion piece to our upcoming "Motivating the Millennials" webinar on Wednesday, April 18. Register for this complimentary webinar and join us to better understanding the mindset and motivations of the Millennial generation. This eBook will cover the leading benefit strategies for attracting and motivating this new generation of workers.
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Biometric screenings top the list of wellness tools that employers use today, according to MetLife’s 2014 U.S. Employee Benefit Trends Study. After biometrics, employers use other types of wellness programs as follows:
In the ongoing battle to contain costs, employers are always looking for tools, old and new, to help keep their healthcare spending in check. One approach is healthcare consumerism — but too often consumerism is discussed as just another plan design option and many employers are hesitant to implement this cost-saving strategy.
Health savings account (HSA) plan designs and general purpose health flexible spending arrangements (sometimes called flexible spending accounts) are two common employee benefit offerings. Both provide employees with tax advantages and the ability to save for qualified medical expenses. However, they don’t pair well and, depending on plan design, can have unintended consequences for your employees.
When it comes to an employer’s health plan, good information is like currency. Resourceful employers analyze their plan’s medical claims data and, with a few tweaks in plan design, they can create significant savings.
Risk management and human resources are traditionally two different job functions, and the people in these areas have rarely crossed paths — but that is changing.
Why are these people starting to work together more frequently?
Foth Companies, headquartered in Green Bay, Wis., understands the link between the company’s success and the well-being of its employees. Implementing a wellness program called “Workin’ Well” featuring health risk assessments (HRAs) is one way the company is demonstrating its commitment to employees.
The IRS released a new Form W-4 for 2018 in February. It also revised its “Withholding Calculator” for employees to use to make sure they are having the proper amounts withheld from their paychecks. The minimum employers have to do is make sure they’re providing the new Form W-4 to newly hired employees and employees wishing to update their Form W-4 on and after April 1, 2018.
Employees sometimes engage in behavior that violates a company’s policies, including the harassment and conduct policies at company events. Other times, poor planning results in injuries and property damage. It is up to human resources and managers to anticipate and proactively manage the risks associated with a company-sponsored event.
This article has been updated significantly to discuss the final wage and hour regulations, which change the salary basis test for determining exemption status. Among other changes, the final regulations have more than doubled the amount that employees must minimally be paid in order to be considered exempt. This is no small matter, as it is anticipated that millions of currently exempt employees will be affected.
Nonprofits are certainly not immune to conflicts. The cost of a nonprofit lawsuit will sometimes climb to around a half million dollars — notwithstanding any award that may be owed as a result. A board's decision could expose the nonprofit and its directors to a claim or lawsuit. In order for a nonprofit to protect its mission and its board members’ personal assets, directors and officers (D&O) insurance may be a crucial investment.
Many technology exposures originate in an organization’s information technology (IT) department. In addition, client data and intellectual property may be at risk through computer viruses or malware that can penetrate the system — even without fraudulent intent on the part of employees — through poor or nonexistent IT security policies.
Businesses are also exposed to a growing number of online security threats and vulnerabilities from the outside. Establishing policies and safeguards to protect your company from internal misuse, external fraud and malware is absolutely essential.
The ESRM is the Employer Shared Responsibility Mandate, introduced by the Affordable Care Act, and is now fully implemented. This article is for you if your company is newly subject to the ESRM or if you are new to the ESRM.
Like Wrightstown Community School District Superintendent Carla Buboltz, many civic leaders — as well as business owners and executives — are seeing their job descriptions evolve. Healthcare reform, along with escalating health insurance costs, are demanding more of their attention than ever before. A survey by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce says the effects of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) are now the top concern for organizations, edging out general uncertainty about the U.S. economy.
When the public exchanges opened in October 2013, the technical glitches and low enrollment were well publicized. Since then, both public and private exchanges have evolved significantly. The private alternatives that have entered the scene often have more advantages than their public counterparts.
Opioid use and abuse is becoming an increasing part of the national conversation — so much so that the Department of Transportation (DOT) recently changed its drug testing protocols to include several common opioids, which may impact how employers with DOT obligations administrate their drug testing programs. However, concerns about the impact of opioids in the workplace go well beyond DOT drivers, and many current non-DOT drug tests include screens for opioids. So what happens when someone tests positive? And should it matter whether they have a legitimate prescription for the opioid?
In a move that caught many employers off guard, on March 5 the IRS announced it was reducing the 2018 health savings account (HSA) contribution limit for individuals with family high deductible health plan (HDHP) coverage from $6,900 to $6,850. This new lower limit impacts both employers and employees.
Health savings accounts (HSAs) have experienced substantial growth since they were first introduced in 2004. As employers look for more affordable ways to offer health coverage, an increasing number of employers have implemented high deductible health plans compatible with HSAs.
In two earlier posts, we discussed some common misconceptions regarding health savings account (HSA) eligibility and when an individual may contribute to an HSA. This week, we will focus on some of the myths associated with the other side of HSAs — how and when an individual may access his or her health savings account monies.