Payroll Management

Q. Our policy lets employees carry over up to 100 hours of unused paid time off from year to year. We would like to change the policy to permit employees the choice between cashing out paid time off and carrying it over into the next year in order to encourage them to reduce their paid time-off accruals. Is this a problem?

Train supervisors and managers on situations that could trigger the FMLA leave determination process. The best approach is to suggest they notify HR if an employee calls in sick and implies anything more than “I’m sick today.” If the employee provides any detail that makes it seem likely he or a family member is suffering from a serious health condition, he should be referred to HR to determine if he’s eligible for FMLA leave.

U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Illinois) has introduced legislation to formally expand the definition of “family” under the FMLA to include “a same-sex spouse, domestic partner, parent-in-law, adult child, sibling or grandparent.”

When polls open nationwide next Tuesday for the 2010 mid-term elections, chances are, some of your employees will want to take part of the day off to cast their ballots. Must you let them? In most states, yes. Here's our state-by-state guide to voting leave laws.

Feel exhausted, even on a vacation day? That’s one sign you’re being bullied at work, according to a “you know you’ve been bullied at work when ...” checklist by Workplace Bullying Institute. Other signs that you’re in the bully’s bull’s-eye:

Q. We recently sent an employee home for not following his supervisor’s instructions. Do we have an obligation to pay him for the full day regardless? How should we handle this situation in the future? Is this considered administrative leave?

Q. One of our full-time employees has just informed us that he will be on two weeks of National Guard duty soon. He will be absent from work to attend an annual encampment in a reserve branch of the armed forces. What are our legal obligations concerning pay to this employee?

HR Law 101: Since 1993, the Family and Medical Leave Act has provided eligible employees up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave per year for the birth, adoption or foster care of a child; caring for a child, spouse or parent with a serious health condition; or convalescence after an employee’s own serious health condition ...

Looking to build a culture that appeals to baby boomers, Gen X, Gen Y and young “Millennials”? Think it’s time to ramp up benefits that serve the needs of executives, production workers, full-timers and part-timers alike? Want yours to be known as a cool place to work? Choose from these six strategies uncovered by the Best Companies Group and Outside magazine in the process of compiling Outside’s 2010 “Best Places to Work” list.

Don’t be surprised if the new college grads who interview for jobs with your organization this summer tell you they’re looking for an employer that gives back to the community. Employee volunteer programs are morphing from a “nice-to-have” benefit to an expectation among employees and recruits—and it’s happening quickly. Here are five tips for starting a volunteer program: