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Archives

The 5 Questions that Identify Essential Functions

Compensation Administration | Wednesday, May 22nd, 2013


"Yesterday’s Advisor clarified the role of essential functions. Today’s issue will help you understand how to define and use them, plus some good news—your job descriptions are updated and ready to go with BLR’s SmartJobs program."

In fact, we turned to SmartJobs for the five questions that can help you decide whether a function is an essential function:

1. Does the position exist specifically to perform this function? For example, when a person is hired to proofread legal documents, the ability to proofread is an essential function. Or, for example, a manufacturing company advertises for a “floating” supervisor to substitute when regular supervisors on all three shifts are absent. The only reason this position exists is to have someone who can work on any of the three shifts. Therefore, the ability to work at any time of the day is an essential function.

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Does the ADA Require Job Descriptions? No, But …

Compensation Administration | Wednesday, May 22nd, 2013


"No, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) does not require employers to prepare or maintain job descriptions. However, without them, it’s going to be very difficult to differentiate essential functions when you face discrimination charges from an applicant with a disability."

If you do have job descriptions, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has said that it will review or consider them, as well as other relevant information, when determining essential functions. Therefore, it is important to keep job descriptions current. Claiming later that some function not listed on the description is a task essential to the job is more difficult to prove than if the task is already listed on the description.

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49ers Make Long-Term Investment in Character, Forgo Short-Term Gains

Compensation Administration | Tuesday, May 21st, 2013


"The football 49ers recently made a long-term investment in character, leaving on the table a substantial short-term gain, says business and leadership blogger Dan Oswald. Is that a sound business strategy for you?"

Oswald, CEO of BLR®, offered these thoughts on character (and a recent 49er’s draft decision) in a recent edition of The Oswald Letter:

A few weeks ago, the San Francisco 49ers, with the 131st pick in the NFL draft, chose Marcus Lattimore, a running back out of the University of South Carolina. Considered by many to be the most talented running back in the 2013 draft, Lattimore wasn’t chosen until the fourth round because he had suffered not one but two knee injuries while in college. So while he possessed the talent, there was some question about whether he would ever be able to demonstrate it on Sunday afternoons in the NFL.

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Non-Cash Rewards–For the 6 Employee Types

Compensation Administration | Tuesday, May 21st, 2013


"Non-cash rewards are a terrific way to control costs while still meaningfully rewarding employees, but not every employee is attracted by the same non-cash reward, says consultant Jennifer Daniels."

Pros of Non-Cash Rewards

Daniels, who is senior consultant at Keating Advisors, LLC, offers the following advantages of non-cash rewards:

  • They are more memorable than cash rewards.
  • Non-cash rewards cost less.
  • Cash rewards can quickly become expected.
  • Non-cash rewards programs can be constantly reinvented.

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Set Boundaries to Make PTO Work

Benefits | Tuesday, May 21st, 2013


"Yesterday’s Advisor Featured 11 PTO policy questions from Attorney Katherine Marques. Today, she shares several key success factors for PTO programs, plus we introduce the best way to find violations in your pay practices before the feds do."

Marques, an associate in the New York office of Holland & Knight LLP, offered her PTO tips at a recent webinar sponsored by BLR® and HR Hero®.

  • Make sure that all parts of the company are on the same page. Payroll, posted policies, and employment handbooks should all agree, says Marques.
  • Make sure the payroll system can account for accruing PTO time.
  • Avoid individually negotiating different benefits from the established policy. All peer employees should be getting roughly the same benefits. Sometimes new candidates negotiate that they want what they had at their old job, and the temptation is to say, OK, that’s fair, but try not to do that, Marques says.
  • Make sure that supervisors are well-trained to address abuse of the PTO system before it gets out of control. Remember that they are not HR professionals; but they have to deal with these issues, says Marques.
  • Be consistent to avoid claims of discrimination with sticky issues like religious holidays, disabilities, or other disparate treatment where employees can claim that they are being treated differently because of membership on protected categories, different child-caring responsibilities, age, etc.

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PTO Policy OK? 11 Questions You Need to Answer

Benefits | Monday, May 20th, 2013


"We love PTO policies because they are easier to administer than separate bucket policies, but there are many policy issues to be decided before your program runs smoothly and avoids lawsuits, says attorney Katherine Marques."

Unfortunately, to complicate matters, many state laws (and some city laws) cover sick time and/or vacation time, so proceed with caution, says Marques, an associate in the New York office of Holland & Knight LLP. She offered her tips at a recent webinar sponsored by BLR® and HR Hero®.

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Gender Pay Gaps—Which Occupations Are Worst?

Compensation Planning | Monday, May 20th, 2013


"YYesterday’s Advisor highlighted the Q&A at a recent OFCCP-sponsored chat on the gender pay gap. Today, more answers from the agencies plus an introduction to a timely webinar on Employee Rewards."

Pat Shiu, Director of the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs, was joined for the chat by Latifa Lyles, Acting Director of the Women’s Bureau (WB), and Jennifer Hunt, chief economist at the Department of Labor (DOL).

[Go here for yesterday’s questions and answers]

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OFCCP on Pay Equality: ‘We Must Do More’

Compensation Planning | Monday, May 20th, 2013


"“… we can and must do more—from updating our regulations and collecting better data to working with employers to improve compensation systems and teaching workers how negotiate for fair pay,” said Pat Shiu, Director of the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs, opening the “Equal Pay Chat.”"

Latifa Lyles, Acting Director of the Women’s Bureau (WB), noted that today, full-time female workers earn on average only 81 percent of what their male counterparts earn. For African-American females and Latinas, the wage ratio is substantially lower: 68 cents and 59 cents, respectively. But the real cost of the pay gap is more than 18 or 23 cents on the dollar. The real cost is much higher. The consequences of a pay gap affect women, their families, and our nation’s economy.

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Training & Development Survey Results–How Do You Compare?

Benefits | Friday, May 10th, 2013


"How often do your employees receive training? What kind of training is conducted? How do your training programs compare to those of your competitors? Over 700 individuals participated in our April 2013 Training & Development Survey. Read on below to see how the training programs your company offers stack up against those of other successful companies"

  • Top compliance training topics for employees are new hire orientation (79%), sexual harassment (75%), and discrimination (69%).
  • For professional development training for employees, job-related skills leads the list (73%), followed by communication (66%), customer service skills (59%), team building (49%), computer skills (46%), and time management (36%).

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First Rule of SM Sourcing? Don’t Be Creepy!

Compensation Administration | Thursday, May 9th, 2013


"If you are not careful, your social media sourcing efforts can come off as something like stalking, says Staffing Advisors Recruiter Kelly Dingee. Rule number one, don’t let candidates think you’re creepy."

People you contact are going to want to know:

  • How did you find me?
  • How did you know that I can …?

Maintain transparency, says Dingee. Explain how you found them. You’re not hacking, you’re searching the Internet for publicly available information.

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