Top 10: Compensation & Benefits Daily Advisor 2014 Year in Review

As we reach the end of 2014, we take a look back at some of your favorite articles. Here’s a list of the top 10 posts on the Compensation & Benefits Daily Advisor website this year.

When Exempt Employee Has No PTO, Takes Time Off PTO banks are working well for many employers. They simplify time off requests, and they can also be a way to ensure that salaried employees do not take advantage of their salaried status by taking time off without boundaries. However, when poorly administered, PTO can cause employees to lose their exemptions.

Out of PTO, Can’t Deduct, What Can You Do? In yesterday’s Advisor, we explored the tricky issue of exempt employees who have exhausted their paid time off (PTO). Today, we’ll look at what to do when deducting pay is not an option.

Performance Appraisals—10 Most Common Sins Performance appraisals—love them or hate them, it’s easy to make expensive mistakes. We’ve collected the most common errors of managers and supervisors who conduct performance appraisals. We call them the “10 Sins.”

9 Things You MUST NOT Include in Your Documentation Yesterday’s Advisor presented Attorney Franack Wobst’s key things you should include in documentation. Today, 9 things not to include, plus an introduction to Employee Compensation in Your State.

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Try BLR’s all-in-one compensation website, Compensation.BLR.com®, and get a complimentary special report, Top 100 FLSA Overtime Q&As, no matter what you decide.   Find out more.

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Yes, You Must Pay Overtime—Even if It’s Forbidden Like most employers, you probably have a written policy prohibiting unauthorized overtime. Such policies are fine—but you still have to pay employees for all hours they work, even if they have repeatedly violated your policy by working the extra hours. (But you can discipline.)

Termination Danger—4 More Sins In yesterday’s Advisor, we presented termination sins 1 to 6; today, we have sins 7 to 10, including the old favorite, documentation, documentation, documentation.

‘I am appalled’ by SHRM/HRCI Brouhaha (Talk-Back) we got a large number of comments responding to last week’s epinion concerning the brouhaha brewing over SHRM’s decision to start offering its own certifications, in competition with HRCI. [See the original post here.] None of the comments is positive and most of the negativity is directed toward SHRM.

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Try BLR’s all-in-one compensation website, Compensation.BLR.com®, and get a complimentary special report, Top 100 FLSA Overtime Q&As, no matter what you decide. Find out more.

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Survey Results: Telecommuting Policies and Dress Codes Yesterday’s Advisor offered survey data on standard and nonstandard perks. Today, data on telecommuting, dress codes, plus demographic data concerning survey participants.

Danger Zone—Deductions from Salaried Employee’s Pay When it comes to assessing an employee’s exempt status, the duties requirements get the lion’s share of attention. It’s easy to forget that the salary basis rules are nearly as complicated—and just as important.

9 Most Common Mistakes on I-9 Forms Yesterday’s Advisor featured Attorney Roger Tsai’s briefing on dealing with Form I-9 challenges. Today, Tsai’s nine most common I-9 mistakes, plus we announce an upcoming webinar on total reward statements.