Balancing your annual benefits budget and setting benefits priorities are some of your most important tasks. Why go it alone? More employers are getting their employees involved in the process of deciding which benefits to keep and which to ditch. Your best bet for engaging employees: Convene a team of workers to serve as a benefits users group, or BUG.

Last month, HR Specialist Forum readers shared their stories of the strangest things they’ve experienced during job interviews. After collecting all the responses, we asked you to vote on your top five. Here are the “winners.”

When employees request leave, especially for unforeseen circumstances, they don't need to assert their FMLA rights explicitly by saying, "I need FMLA leave." In fact, they don't need to mention FMLA ...

Q. I understand that I-9 forms can now be stored electronically. To save on office space and filing time, our department is considering scanning and electronically filing all personnel files and documents. Is this OK?

In the midst of the economic meltdown, the 30 employees of Legacy Design Build Remodeling in Scottsdale, Ariz., got their profit-sharing checks as scheduled at December’s holiday party. The bosses had sent a memo to employees before Thanksgiving with the news that the checks might not come this year. So the Christmas gift was a surprise.

Test your knowledge of recent trends in employment law, comp & benefits and other HR issues with our monthly mini-quiz ...

I need some help with an awkward situation at work. One of our managers travels often, so he leaves one of his direct reports in charge of his department during his absences. This person is consistently rude to everyone else when the boss is away. I've received complaints here in HR. How should I address this? With the manager, or with the employee?—S.S., California

When the weather or another emergency turns your employees into accidental telecommuters, your organization will be better off if they’re prepared to work from home. Before the next weather emergency hits, develop systems and start training your employees to work productively from remote locations. Here are guidelines that have worked in organizations around the country:

On April 15, President Obama signed into law amendments that extend eligibility for the 65% COBRA subsidy through May 31. The amendments buy time for Congress to consider additional legislation that could keep the subsidy alive until the end of the year.

Unplanned absences can disrupt even the best-run workplaces. Of course, you don’t want truly sick employees to come to work if they have some contagious illness. Nor do you want to discourage employees from taking legitimate FMLA leave. Your challenge as an employer: Craft and enforce an attendance policy that allows or even encourages legitimate sick leave use while discouraging abuse.

As the economy rebounds, you may be looking closely at ex-employees who departed on good terms. But poorly managed rehiring can result in reduced productivity and morale. Plus, you face the possibility of discrimination lawsuits from rejected internal applicants. Here are six common rehiring mistakes:

Fortune magazine has rated Cary-based software design firm SAS the nation’s best employer. SAS shot up from 20th place on last year’s version of the annual “100 Best Companies to Work For” list. What makes SAS such a good employer?

Only 45% of the 5,000 working adults surveyed by The Conference Board say they are satisfied with their current jobs. That’s the lowest level recorded, down from 52% in 2005, 58% in 1995 and 61% in 1987, the year of the inaugural survey.

When it comes to employment lawsuits, HR is a lot like flying an airplane: The most risky parts of the trip are at the takeoff (hiring) and the landing (dismissal). With hiring, you can limit the employment-law risks by following the legally safe steps and training supervisors to do the same.

HR pros wear lots of hats: coordinator of hiring and firing, benefits administrator, arbitrator of personal disputes, enforcer of company policies and — sometimes — counselor/confidant/shoulder to cry on. What's the toughest part of your job? Why? Is that different than you thought it would be when you entered the profession? — The HR Specialist Editors

The new health care law means new obligations for insurance companies, plus new responsibilities for employers. Here are the specifics:

Since the convenience store chain Sheetz started its “connect sessions” last year, 1,000 of its 13,000 employees in six states have met with store executives to ask questions, make suggestions and complain. The 57-year-old, family-owned organization has made changes as a result.

The Communication Workers of America union has inked a new collective-bargaining agreement with AT&T, bringing 9% pay increases over three years to some 35,000 phone company employees in the Southeast.

The Indiana Regional Medical Center (IRMC) in west central Pennsylvania cracked Fortune magazine’s 2010 list of the “100 Best Companies to Work For.” IRMC came in at 60th on Fortune’s list, based on its impressively low nurse turnover rate of 2%.

Three health care-related firms and the American operation of a luxury car manufacturer comprise the four New Jersey firms named to Fortune magazine’s 100 Best Companies to Work For.

A Toyota and Lexus dealer and automotive services company, a health care system and an employee-owned supermarket represent Florida on Fortune magazine’s 100 Best Companies to Work For list.

We’ve all heard the good news: The recession is crawling to a resolution and the economy will slowly get back to normal. Most of the executives I know don’t believe it. Employee-focused HR folks are hoping we’ll get back to business as usual on the comp and benefits front. But you might want to run that by your chief financial officer.

We’ve seen it with Haiti. We saw it on the Gulf Coast with Hurricane Katrina, and when floods and wildfires have ravaged other parts of the country. When employees see an organization taking the initiative to help victims of natural disasters or support charities in their own communities, it sends an important message: This is a good place to work because it’s about more than just making a buck.

Does your selection process rely heavily on how applicants handle themselves during job interviews? If so, be aware that courts are often suspicious of such inherently subjective decision-making. That’s why it’s best to document how objective qualifications—such as education and experience—counted for more than the fleeting impression of an interview.

For the first time in history, the number of unionized public-sector workers exceeds the number of private-sector union members, despite the fact that there are five times more workers in the private sector, according to a new U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics report.