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Infographic: 'Play or Pay' Decision Guide

Before January 1, 2014, employers covered by the employer responsibility provision of the health care reform law—also known as the Affordable Care Act (ACA)—will need to decide if they will provide health care insurance to their employees or pay the penalties for not doing so. This decision is commonly referred to as 'play or pay.'

Under the ACA, "applicable large employers" must decide whether they will "play" by providing affordable, adequate health care coverage to their employees or "pay" penalties instead. This infographic helps you determine whether you are an applicable large employer and whether you will be subject to either of the penalties.

The infographic also links to a video featuring BLR Legal Editor Jessica Webb-Ayer, who provides further detail about the employer responsibility provision including definitions of what is considered both affordable and adequate health care coverage.

The video can also be accessed directly here.

BLR's ACA Play or Pay Decision Guide: By HR.BLR.com

More infographics: Check out other infographics on HR.BLR.com:

– Workplace Romances
– Winter Weather & the Workplace
– Monster Hiring Survey

Expert Explains Employer 'Play or Pay' Mandate Under ACA

In 2014, one of the most significant provisions under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) becomes effective—the employer responsibility mandate—commonly referred to as 'play or pay.' Under the health care reform law, only 'applicable large employers' are subject to the play or pay provision.

In this video, ACA expert Jessica Webb-Ayer, a Legal Editor at BLR, defines applicable large employers, explains the play or pay decision such employers must make by the end of 2013, and provides details about the potential penalties under the law.

New FMLA Regs Explained by Employee Leave Expert

In a new video by Business & Legal Resources (BLR), Senior Legal Editor Susan Schoenfeld discusses the recent Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) Final Rule on family military leave issued by the U.S. Department of Labor.

In the video, Schoenfeld explains how the Final Rule amends certain FMLA regulations implementing amendments to the military leave provisions of the law made by the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) and discusses how the Rule will change the way in which covered employers administer family leave for servicemember caregivers and employees with family members in the military.

The video is currently available at HR.BLR.com

The video is the second episode of BLR's new 'HR Compliance News Update' video series. In each installment of the series, BLR's editors review recent, significant developments employers should know about—and their legal experts provide insights beyond the headlines. To subscribe to receive these video updates, visit BLR's YouTube Channel.

Susan Schoenfeld, J.D., is a Senior Legal Editor for BLR’s human resources and employment law publications. She has practiced in the area of employment litigation and counseling, covering topics such as disability discrimination, wrongful discharge, sexual harassment, and general employment discrimination. Schoenfeld has litigated numerous cases before the U.S. Court of Appeals, state court, and at the U.S. Department of Labor.

Infographic Illustrates Workplace Romance Hazards

Our newest infographic illustrates why employers can't afford to simply look the other way if they have employees who are in a romantic relationship together.

This infographic provides an overview of the potential negative consequences—including employee lawsuits—for the employer if a workplace romance goes sour.

It also provides employers with practical advice and steps to take to protect themselves from these hazards, including possible legal liability. View the infographic on HR.BLR.

Infographic: Workplace romance is a potential nightmare for employers: By HR.BLR.com

The infographic also links to a video featuring BLR Legal Editor Joan Farrell, who explains these workplace hazards—and best practices for employers to safeguard against them—in further detail.

The video can also be accessed directly here.

New HR Compliance News Update Video Series for Employers

Business & Legal Resources (BLR) has announced the launch of its 'HR Compliance News Update,' a new video series that will keep employers updated on the latest HR compliance news. In each episode, BLR will go over recent, significant developments employers should know about and provide insights beyond the headlines from our team of HR legal editors.

In the February 2013 premiere episode, Senior Managing Editor Patricia Trainor discusses recent developments that have implications for employers. These include an immigration reform proposal from a bipartisan group of senators; an appeals court ruling on President Obama’s recess appointments to the National Labor Relations Board; and the release of some telling statistics regarding union membership in the United States.

The video is currently available at HR.BLR.com

You can subscribe to receive future installments of this series at BLR's YouTube Channel

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Training Time: When Are Employers Obligated to Pay?

One potentially confusing area for employers is determining under which circumstances employee training time must be paid. Is all employee training time considered hours worked? BLR Legal Editor Susan Prince provides the answer in this new video.

 

Hi. I’m Susan Prince, a Legal Editor at HR.BLR.com. We recently received an Ask the Expert question from a subscriber asking "Do we have to pay an employee for an evening training course that we asked her to take?"

The time that employees spend in meetings, lectures, or training is considered hours worked and must be paid, unless:

• Attendance is outside regular working hours;
• Attendance is voluntary;
• The course, lecture, or meeting is not job related; and
• The employee does not perform any productive work during attendance.

Training is directly related to the employee's job if it is designed to make the employee handle his job more effectively as distinguished from training him for another job, or to a new or additional skill. For example, a stenographer who is given a course in stenography is engaged in an activity to make her a better stenographer. Time spent in such a course given by the employer or under his auspices is hours worked.

However, if the stenographer takes a course in bookkeeping, it may not be directly related to her job. Thus, the time she spends voluntarily in taking such a bookkeeping course, outside of regular working hours, need not be counted as working time.

Where a training course is instituted for the bona fide purpose of preparing for advancement through upgrading the employee to a higher skill, and is not intended to make the employee more efficient in his present job, the training is not considered directly related to the employee's job even though the course incidentally improves his skill in doing his regular work.

HR.BLR.com's Ask the Expert service is an exclusive benefit of our subscribers. To learn more about becoming a subscriber, visit HR.BLR.com.  Thanks.

BLR's Patricia Trainor is Featured Guest on Radio Show

Patricia Trainor, J.D.,SPHR—BLR’s Senior Managing Editor, Human Resources—was the featured guest this week on "The Proactive Employer", a weekly radio show hosted by Stephanie Thomas, to talk about how the results of the presidential election could impact employment law and human resources.

"The Proactive Employer" features one-on-one discussions with leading policymakers and thought leaders. During the show, Patricia and Stephanie had a detailed discussion on where Barack Obama and Mitt Romney stand on employment law issues. Specific topics of interest to human resources professionals that Patricia and Stephanie discussed include:

• pending ’right to know’regulations under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) regarding employee classification
• affirmative action and OFCCP activity
• the Paycheck Fairness Act
• and the National Labor Relations Board's (NLRB) reach regarding issues such as social media policies and employee handbooks.

The show, which aired on the Proactive Employer website November 1, was selected for feature the same day on the home page of BlogTalkRadio the largest online talk radio network with millions of listeners.

You can listen to a recording of the recording here: Patricia Trainor's interview on HR issues and the presidential election.

Infographic Spotlights Employer Vacation and Sick Time Policies

A new infographic puts the spotlight on employer policies and practices regarding employee vacation time and sick time. The infographic highlights findings from BLR's 2012 Paid Time Off Survey, conducted among over 800 employers, including how many weeks of vacation exempt and nonexempt employees receive after 1, 5, 10 and 15 years of employment. The infographic also reveals the most prevalent employer practices for determining sick time accrual.

BLR’s 2012 Paid Time Off Survey: Vacation and Sick Leave Policies - An infographic by the team at HR.BLR.com

BLR's 2012 Paid Time Off Survey also covers paid time off (PTO) policies, as well as employer practices regarding bereavement leave, military leave, jury duty, and voting time. The survey also includes information about employer practices regarding the deduction of accrued paid leave for employees who take leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and workers’ compensation, as well as policies for rollover of unused leave, cashing out leave, and donating leave.

Video Series Answers Employer's 3 Tough FMLA Certification Questions

The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) continues to be one of the largest sources of administrative and legal headaches for HR professionals and employers. And medical certification is a particularly tricky area of FMLA leave management—as evidenced by the large number of questions HR.BLR.com receives from customers on the topic.

In a new Ask the HR.BLR.com Expert video series, BLR Senior Legal Editor Susan Schoenfeld answers three subscriber questions involving common Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) medical certification issues.

Schoenfeld addresses the following FMLA medical certification questions in the video series:

• Is obtaining FMLA medical certification always necessary for leave?
• What can an employer do if an employee fails to return requested medical certification?
• When and how often can an employer request medical recertification?

All 3 videos—which are free to everyone—can be accessed at HR.BLR.com's HR Video Resource Center which features several more videos featuring our legal experts on various topics such as health care reform, FLSA/wage and hour issues, FMLA, workplace discrimination, among others.

The individual videos in the Ask the HR.BLR.com Expert series can also be accessed via the links below:

FMLA medical certification--do employers always need to have it?

FMLA medical certification: What if employee refuses to provide?

Employee FMLA recertification requests--Know the rules

HR.BLR.com Releases Free Interactive Employee Voting Leave Laws Map

HR.BLR.com has created an interactive map to help employers quickly access information about voting laws in the state(s) in which they operate.

However, many states have filled this void in the law with specific provisions and sanctions. Some states require employees to give reasonable notice of absence to the employer. Also, many state laws require employees to use their available time outside of work hours to cast their votes if there is sufficient time before or after work to get to local polls.

The map,"Does My State Have Voting Leave Laws?"—and the state law information it contains—is being made free to everyone on HR.BLR.com through Election Day, November 6.

The map can also be accessed via HR.BLR.com's  new 2012 Elections and Your Workplace Resource Center.

Employers must be familiar with the federal and state laws surrounding voting laws, political activity in the workplace, their own conduct, and the conduct of their employees.  BLR launched the 2012 Elections and Your Workplace Center to provide news articles, policies, and other guidance created and curated by HR.BLR.com editors to help answer your questions about political activity in the workplace. The Resource Center can be found at http://hr.blr.com/resource-centers/2012-Election-Your-Workplace.