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Most companies find the holidays difficult to navigate simply because of the religious diversity among us. In the workplace, Christmas day has long been a holiday that has come to be more a representative day for holiday observance than its religious meaning. While some companies with founders that have strong religious beliefs may close and observe other religious holidays, it is a legal minefield.
Now we have a school district in Fort Worth TX that appears to be attempting to teach religious political correctness (PC) to students. In their effort to separate church and school, they are prohibiting the exchange of religion-based cards and greetings and monitoring decorations to ensure there are no religious overtones. However, the students may exchange gifts and religion-based cards during lunch periods and before/after school. Sound like your office environment?
Needless to say, parents are rolling their eyes and complaining. However, do they really have anything to complain about? In case you haven’t noticed, this is the type of environment many companies are striving to achieve to prevent lawsuits regarding religious freedom.
While a company is free to declare which, if any, days it plans to close operations within the year, you need to be prepared [click to read more ...]
Even if your Employee Handbook states which holidays you normally observe and close on, you should send out a memo each year at this time stating specifically which days and dates for the following year.
As we know, holidays that fall on the weekend are typically observed on Friday (for Saturday holidays) or Monday (for Sunday holidays). If you’re one of the many companies that tries to give employees a specific number of holidays each year, it’s even more important for you to publish the upcoming year’s list so your employees can plan accordingly.
There’s really nothing worse than people being told too late about a long weekend. They have no time to plan and, therefore, your great benefit falls flat.
I’ve listed below the dates the more popular holidays will fall on for 2012. Use this moment to create your holiday memo for employees!
News Year’s Day (Jan 1, a Sunday that may or may not be observed on Monday) Martin Luther King, Jr. Day (Jan 16, a Monday that is typically observed on that day, if at all) Presidents’ Day (Feb 20, a Monday that is observed on that day and is popular simply because it breaks up [click to read more ...]
The Temporary Extension Act of 2010 has been approved and signed into law. This Act, once again, extends subsidies for certain COBRA participants.
Employees who were/are involuntarily terminated between 9/1/2008 and 3/31/2010 are eligible for up to 15 months of COBRA subsidies now. As you know, this means your company is paying 65% of the COBRA premium but can receive reimbursement from the government. You’re merely having to go through the administrative nightmare, then having to wait months for reimbursement.
Given this Act, I won’t be surprised to hear that the subsidies are extended even longer given the current high unemployment rates. I guess we’ll have to wait and see!
You can check out the details of the law at http://www.dol.gov/ebsa/cobra.html.
Have you ever watched your employees when they are getting coffee in the morning, taking breaks, or having lunch? Unless they’ve been around awhile, they are probably searching through any cupboards and drawers in the area to see what the company has provided.
Does an employee have any right to expect you to provide condiments, coffee, etc.? No. Providing things for employees is a benefit offered by the company, not a right or entitlement of the employee. However, you might want to consider the advantages of providing basic kitchen supplies … even if you don’t actually have a kitchen available.
Nearly every office space has some sort of wet bar or a full-blown kitchenette. I’ve seen a lot of them in every configuration possible. The first recommendation I need to make is to keep it clean. It’s amazing how employees can ignore spills, open cupboard doors, and trash sitting around when it’s not in their own home.
Accept this as a fact of life. Pay your cleaning people to scrub it down any time they are cleaning the offices. This isn’t just for the benefit of the employees … keep in mind that you have guests walking through the building [click to read more ...]
Have you ever wondered what you could do to make your employees happier? A recent study reported in Science provides the answer.
It should be no surprise that many people are happier when they give to others. The study found that giving to charities increases happiness. You can use this information in your business to increase the feeling of well-being of your employees as well as increasing retention.
The next time you are reviewing your benefits or employee events, consider developing a program that allows employees paid or unpaid time off work to conduct charitable work.
Perhaps a group of employees want to help out at a soup kitchen over the holidays. Or you could be the holding area for program that collects and distributes blankets, clothing, and other goods needed by those in need. Maybe they want to collect and distribute toys for local orphanages. There are unlimited possibilities out there for those really interested.
The best thing you can do is hand the whole thing over to the employees. Have a company meeting where you announce the very basics of this idea. Suggest they form a planning committee and bring you ideas.
Decide what role your company will play. Are you going [click to read more ...]
In my previous post I talked about the fact that a bonus plan can be bad news if insufficient thought has gone into the planning and implementation. The last part of that sentence is really the answer to creating a better bonus plan … thinking through the planning and implementation.
I know for a fact that if you are considering, or have, a bonus plan that you expect something in return for it. And you should. But, be honest, are you and your employees getting what you wanted and expected when it’s time for the bonus to be paid?
It may help to think about your employees with the same mindset that you use on your suppliers when they create a product specifically for you rather than pulling an item off the shelf. How do they know what you want? You’ve told them. You probably put together a spec sheet that has every possible measurement and a detailed description of the materials you want used. You also expect to receive exactly what the spec sheet stated … or you’ll request a replacement or withhold payment. That’s why your suppliers are also very careful about what the spec sheet says and [click to read more ...]
You’re probably thinking that a bonus can never be bad news, but you’d be wrong. Before I go into that let me discuss briefly the whole point of a bonus plan.
A bonus plan is intended to focus your employees on your company goals. As a side benefit it’s a motivator and gives employees a reason to be more productive and work together better.
Have you heard the phrase “working ON your business rather than IN your business?” Usually this means to focus on building your business rather than getting caught up in the details of the day-to-day business that can eat up your time so you never get ahead. However, a bonus plan is another way to work ON your business because you are ensuring your employees have an eye on achieving the company’s goals for you. If they are working on the goals with you (as opposed to just showing up each day), then the achievement of those goals will also help grow your business.
So, what’s the bad news? A bonus plan is only as good as its planning and implementation. If you come up with a bonus plan that’s weak, then your employees will view it [click to read more ...]
I probably should have written this particular post a couple of months ago but better late than never! Especially if your company isn’t throwing a holiday bash for your employees.
Even taking religion out of the mix, December has become the traditional party month. Some companies throw a huge, formal party while others go the Scrooge route. I think you do your company and your employees a disservice by ignoring the celebrations going on all around you.
If your company is doing the big bash, then you’ve been planning this for months and don’t need my advice. But what if you’re a company that would love to do the big bash and just doesn’t have the money? Then you need an alternate plan that will be appreciated for the effort, not the cost. And if you’re not doing anything, keep reading.
Involve your employees! You’ll be surprised at the employees who love to be challenged with creating a party atmosphere on a limited budget. Give them a budget and let them be creative. Often you just need to keep an eye out for certain things (like requiring employees to chip in or participate).
Potlucks are usually popular and only need [click to read more ...]
What do you spend the most money on for employees? Benefits, right? And I’ll bet you they don’t have a clue what it’s costing you. Have you ever seen or heard of a benefit statement? Yes, they can be a ton of work to produce but they can be worth every bit of it when done right.
A benefit statement is similar to giving each employee a personalized memo that depicts their entire compensation package. If you review your accounting statements each month, you know that a large amount of your annual costs are employee-related. It’s time to share that information so your employees have a better understanding of how great it is to work for you.
Since creating these statements can be time-consuming, pick a time during the year when things are slower for you. While it would be fabulous to create these on a quarterly basis to keep reminding employees of their compensation package with you, you’d need to automate this somehow to make it practical. An annualized benefit statement is more common.
What’s included? Everything you can possibly think of and put a value on! Start with their annualized salary/wage, then starting adding up the benefits:
[click to read more ...]
When I first started out in HR … yes, it’s been a while! … employees received double digit salary increases as the norm and the benefits for the employee-only were completely paid for by the employer. I was upset the first time I had to contribute to my own insurance premiums.
While the double digit increases are probably gone forever, I’m finding a lot of small companies paying the full premium for health insurances. I bring this up because it continues to surprise me that companies are doing this today when insurance costs are so high and there are better ways to spend your benefit dollars.
Paying the full cost of your employee’s health insurance seems like a wonderful benefit to offer. But you know what? Some of your employees have signed up for your plan only because it’s free, not because they actually need it. Are any of your employees married? Do their spouses have insurance coverage? Is your employee also on their spouse’s plan? Often the answer is yes.
What does this mean to you? Let’s say an employee is already covered under their spouse’s plan, but also signs up for your plan just because it costs nothing. [click to read more ...]
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