Here's a roundup of timely questions posed by readers of HR Specialist's Compensation & Benefits newsletter. You'll find answers on such hot topics as health insurance opt-out bonuses, differing pay structures for similar work, unemployment benefits for furloughed workers and paying for travel time.

The news that consulting giants TowersPerrin and WatsonWyatt are merging has sent shockwaves through the HR world. How will this alliance affect the consulting environment? Will it be good news or bad for HR pros who need outside help? Now more than ever, it may pay to hire someone to help you choose a consultant.

Conflicts over religious accommodation in the workplace have spilled over into the courtroom, as more and more employees try to force employers to bend work schedules to fit their religious practices. What's an employer's duty to accommodate employees' religious observances?

The EEOC has issued proposed regulations for enforcing the ADA Amendments Act of 2008 (ADAA), a sweeping law that took effect earlier this year. Among the changes: a new definition of what constitutes an ADA disability. With the EEOC in charge of suing to force compliance, you need to know the answers to these 10 questions.

Managers can play a key role in creating an environment in which employees will want to look for new ideas. It’s important to let employees know that initiative and innovation are valued and that people who question will be rewarded—not labeled as troublemakers. Here are nine tips for removing barriers to employee creativity:

Congress is considering emergency legislation that would guarantee five paid sick days for workers directed to stay home by their employer for a contagious illness, such as the H1N1 flu virus. Although passage is far from certain, the Emergency Influenza Containment Act is a bill worth monitoring.

Several states peg the minimum wage to the cost of living. For decades, inflation has meant cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs) that delivered regular pay raises. But what's happening now that the cost of living has declined 1.3% so far this year?

“Just take it out of HR’s budget.” If that’s a common refrain among your execs at budget-setting time, it’s time to fight back. "It’s more critical than ever for you to be able to create and defend your budgets,” says Valarie Grubb, VP of Operations and Initiatives at NBC Universal, who spent much of her career building and justifying budgets at large U.S. companies.

It happens to every manager: You sit down to prepare a staff member's review and realize you can remember only what the person has done the past few weeks. Supervisors should never rely solely on memory to evaluate employee performance. The most useful, easy-to-implement way is to create and maintain a log for each person. Here's how.

What does it take to jump the fence from your administrative role and be seen as a true leader in the company? The HR Specialist posed the following question to three of the leading HR thought leaders in America today: “What are the actions that a true HR leader takes to demonstrate leadership within an organization?” Their answers pointed to the following six actions:

Paul Falcone, author of 101 Tough Conversations to Have with Employees, offers these scripts to follow when you need to have awkward but essential conversations with employees. Here's what managers should say after they've said, "Hey, got a minute?" Falcone will present more of his powerful advice in Tough Talks: Scripts and Strategies for Difficult Employee Discussions, an HR Specialist webinar happening this Thursday, Nov. 12.

A new study estimates that nearly two-thirds of Facebook users access the site at work. On average, they spend 15 minutes on the site during work hours, and the electronic back-and-forth could represent as much as 1.5% of an employer's productivity losses. The good news: You can stop it.

Ten states tie increases in the minimum wages to the inflation rate: Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, Ohio, Oregon, Vermont and Washington. Since the cost of living has actually declined this year, none of those states will see an increase in their minimum wages.

During a recession, every organization seems to face its own unique HR challenges, and that’s leading to creative solutions and new ways of thinking. Here are five best practices that can help comp and benefits pros make changes that contribute to their organizations’ survival.

You have to handle plenty of serious employee gripes about benefits and harassment. But as shown by a new CareerBuilder survey of 2,600 HR pros and hiring managers, you also have had to deal with some truly offbeat complaints. For example:

If discrimination has always been a head-in-the-sand issue for you and your organization, it’s time to get serious about your policies and practices. Discrimination complaints of all types—race, sex, age, etc.—have skyrocketed in the past year as the economy has fallen. Here's how to avoid becoming one of the EEOC's targets.

Even with unemployment hovering near 10%, some employers are still having trouble finding employees with the right skills, experience and training. Here are the 10 hardest jobs to fill in 2009:

For the past 15 years, complying with the FMLA has been complex, but at least the law stayed the same. But earlier this year, that all changed when the first major overhaul of the FMLA took effect. Here are the details on the changes every HR pro must understand.

It sometimes takes extra money to entice an applicant to jump ship. That’s all part of the hiring dance. But there's a hidden peril that could land you in court—and cost you thousands. Learn the best practices that will help you defend yourself.

A brutal economy … layoffs … pay cuts. These are trying times to be a U.S. worker, and not all are handling it well. Nearly half of U.S. workers say they feel stressed out, compared with 39% in other countries, according to a Robert Half International survey. Here are 10 ways to deal with your employees' recession-induced stress:

When employees hunch over keyboards all day, all the motivational posters in all the break rooms of the world won’t improve their health. Solution: Deliver practical, actionable advice directly into employees’ e-mail in-boxes.

A new federal law takes effect Nov. 8 that extends eligibility for group health insurance coverage to certain dependent children over age 18 who are enrolled in institutions of higher education.

First, employers suggested. Then, they encouraged. Then pleaded. Now more U.S. employers are turning to the almighty dollar to get their employees to change their pound-packing, chain-smoking, sedentary ways. Despite the sour economy, more employers are creating and expanding wellness programs in recent years. And they’re increasingly turning to financial rewards and penalties to increase participation.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) last month unveiled LeanWorks, a web site designed to help U.S. employers address employee obesity and its related costs.