www.theHRSpecialist.com September 2014 • The HR Specialist 1

How likely is a lawsuit? Overall, U.S. employers face a 12.5% chance of having an employment legal claim filed against them, according to a recent study by speciality insurance firm Hiscox. But employers in certain states—including California, Illinois, Alabama and Mississippi—are at a substantially higher-than-average risk of being sued. Lower-risk states include West Virginia, Massachusetts, Michigan, Kentucky and Washington. While federal law is consistent nationwide, state law varies and can drive more litigation.

Social media & HR: Know your state privacy law. In the past two years, several states have passed laws relating to social media and employee privacy, including laws banning employers from requesting access to employees’ social media accounts. Find out if your state has such a law in Seyfarth Shaw’s free report, the Social Media Privacy Legislation Desktop Reference, at http://tinyurl.com/statesocial.

Are your employees ready for retirement? More than one-third (36%) of Americans have not saved a dime for retirement, according to a new Bankrate.com survey. Two- thirds of people in their 20s haven’t saved anything, compared with 14% of people over age 65. The good news: Those who are saving are starting earlier.

In The News ...

In this issueWashington Report: I-9s, labor violations, NLRB ......................2From the Courts: Terminations, exemptions .............................3The suggestion box: How to make it work ..................................4Memo to Managers: Managing workaholics ...........................6The HR I.Q. Test ....................................................................................8

From: Business Management Daily Subject: Practical HR strategies to boost your career

The HR SpecialistIn the six years since the Great

Recession hit, U.S. employers have held tightly on the reins of salary increases. That grip appears to be slowly, but finally, easing.

Annual raises that were hum-ming along nicely at or near 4% cratered down to an average of 2.2% in 2009, according to the annual WorldatWork Salary Budget survey. Since then, pay raises have improved slightly each year.

In 2014, average raises are running at 2.9% for nonexempt hourly (non-union) workers and 3.0% for exempt, salaried employees. The survey pro- jects that the average raise in base pay for 2015 will be 3.1% in 2015.

“Salary increase budgets will likely remain close to the 3% mark until market forces require employers to raise wages more aggressively,” said Alison Avalos, WorldatWork’s research manager. “Recovering

Raises finally pulling out of recession nosedive

To:

www.theHRSpecialist.com (800) 543-2055

To fire, must you have ‘proof’ of harassment?You don’t need to worry about

establishing an airtight legal case against an employee who harasses a co-worker. Contrary to what some believe, HR investigations aren’t held to the same “beyond a reasonable doubt” standard used in court.

As long as you con-duct a proper investi-gation and reasonably believe the employee broke company rules against harassment, a court likely won’t second-guess your judg-ment. You don’t have to be abso-lutely right … just fair and honest.

Example: A female employee at a Florida county jail claimed a male co-worker, David, liked to tell her stories of his sexual exploits. She complained, the county investigated and David was fired.

David sued, claiming he didn’t sex-ually harass her. But the court sided with the county, saying it conducted a thorough investigation and was free to believe the employee’s version and not David’s. The case was dismissed.

(Finley v. Florida Parish, No. 13-31030, 5th Cir., 2014)

Final note: Judges don’t expect employers to conduct investiga-

tions that resemble full-blown trials, either. As long as you document your decision-making process and show you were fair and reasonable, chances are your decisions won’t be ques-tioned.

Online resource: Workplace CSI For tips on making credible deci-sions in “he said/she said” harass-ment investigations, check out www.theHRSpecialist.com/credibility.

Date: September 2014 Vol. 12, No. 9

Continued on page 2

2%

3%

4%

5%

‘95 ‘00 ‘05 ‘10 ‘15*

Source: WorldatWork Salary Budget Survey *2015 = projected

Average pay raise for exempt salaried worker

2 The HR Specialist • September 2014 www.theHRSpecialist.com

Raises recovering(Cont. from page 1)

You can finally make the Affordable Care Act work for

you.The U.S. Department of Labor

has updated its model COBRA notice to emphasize that departing workers who qualify for COBRA continuation coverage may want to buy health insurance through the ACA’s exchanges instead.

That could reduce the cost of their premiums. It could help you, too, since the fewer employees who elect COBRA coverage, the fewer administrative headaches for you.

With the new notice, the DOL is hoping to clear up confusion regard-ing the interaction between COBRA and individual policies bought on the exchanges. The COBRA notice emphasizes that:• Individual coverage through an

exchange may be cheaper than COBRA, especially when ACA

premium tax credits are figured in.• Employees can’t bounce between

individual coverage and COBRA unless a second qualifying event occurs. Electing COBRA pre-cludes buying an individual policy until the next exchange open enrollment.The regulations that contain the

model notice won’t be finalized until this fall, but employers can begin using the new notice now.

New model COBRA noticecould reduce health costs, admin burdens

Justice Dept.: Don’t share I-9s with outside vendorsSharing employee information with outside vendors often makes sense. But the Department of Justice (DOJ) recently announced that sharing employee information that appears on I-9 forms or in the online E-Verify system would violate federal immigration laws. (Employers use I-9s and E-Verify to confirm employ-ees’ work eligibility.) The DOJ says I-9 employment verification forms may only be used to enforce immi-gration laws, and sharing I-9s with a third party had nothing to do with that purpose.

Fed contractors must disclose past labor violationsPresident Obama signed an executive order forcing employers that seek to do business with Uncle Sam to reveal whether they’ve violated any safety, antidis-crimination or wage laws in the past three years. If so, they’d be barred from receiving any federal contract worth $500,000 or more. The order comes on the heels of other administration actions aimed at com-pelling federal contractors to adopt worker-friendly policies.

In wake of NLRB franchise ruling, review your independent contractor agreementsThe National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) gen-eral counsel determined that franchisors and franchi-sees—in this case, of the McDonald’s fast-food chain—can be named “joint employers” when employees file unfair labor practices charges. That means the company—not the individual franchise owner—could be found liable for any illegal employment practices committed by the fran-chisee. (Franchise agreements typically insulate parent companies from liability for the acts of franchisees.) Business groups voiced alarm about the ruling, say-ing it would upend years of federal and state legal precedent. And attorney Tracy Glanton of the Elarbee Thompson law firm, says the ruling could affect any company with outsourced services. The key issue the degree of control the organization exercises over the work performed by franchisees or independent contractors.

Glanton urges companies to “review contracts for explicit statements about who retains the authority to control and supervise the terms and conditions of employment for the workforce.”

W a s h i n g t o n R e p o r t

from the recession is no longer driv-ing employers’ salary budget plan-ning. Current salary budget increase amounts are less about a recovery from widespread pay freezes from a few years back and more about the current marketplace not demand-ing much growth in the size of pay increases for employees.”

The percentage of employers that won’t award any raises next year has fallen to between 2% to 5% depend-ing on regional and industry vari-ables. That’s close to historic levels.

Pay for performance. Employers continue to drop their one-raise-fits-all policies. In 2014, employers on average gave out 2.7% merit increases for midlevel performers and 4.0% increases for high performers. Low performers could expect just 0.6% more in their paychecks.

“Organizations know that in order to retain top talent, they need to reward and motivate these important employees,” Avalos said.

Online resources The new COBRA model notice is available via the DOL’s website at www.dol.gov/ebsa/modelgeneralnotice.doc. It’s also available in Spanish at www.dol.gov/ebsa/COBRA.html.

Read more on the notice—including possible coverage gap issues—at www.theHRSpecialist.com/newCOBRAnotice.

www.theHRSpecialist.com September 2014 • The HR Specialist 3

From the Courts

Before terminating for insubordination,thwart lawsuit by lining up witnesses

When you fire a difficult employee, there’s a chance he

or she will remain a thorn in your side. That’s why it pays to prepare, especially if you terminate the person for something subjective like insub-ordination.

Always document (in great detail) the incident that prompted the fir-ing. Also, gather as many eyewitness accounts as possible.

More witnesses = a better foundation for your case.

Recent case: Wendy, a nurse at a New York medical facility, didn’t get along well with some of her co-workers. One day, she allegedly refused to comply with a supervisor’s order to take her lunch break. She wanted to take it a half hour later. The argument quickly escalated and Wendy was fired.

According to the testimony from witnesses, Wendy had allegedly slammed a book and said something like, “What part of what I just said do you not understand?”

Wendy, who is black, sued, claiming the supervi-sor treated her like an “angry black woman.” But her case didn’t go far. That’s because the court heard from every-one who had been part of the incident.

The court refused to consider Wendy’s subjective feeling that she was being treated poorly when others described her behavior as clearly inappropriate. (Campbell v. Correctional Medical Care, No. 14-CV-6136, WD NY, 2014)

Final tip: Gather witness state-ments right away, while memories are still fresh.

Employees are eligible for over-time pay unless their positions

fit into one of several exemption categories, including the executive exemption.

But take note: Don’t try to apply the executive exemption label unless the employee is directly involved in hiring and firing. It’s not enough to merely ask an alleged “executive” if an applicant is a good one.

Recent case: Terry sued his ex-employer, a small lumber yard chain, alleging he had been wrongly classi-fied as an exempt executive employee and, thus, was due unpaid overtime.

Federal rules say workers who fall under the executive exemption must, among other things, “have the authority to hire or fire other

employees, or the employee’s sug-gestions and recommendations as to the hiring, firing, advancement, pro-motion or any other change of status of other employees must be given particular weight.”

Terry wasn’t involved in screen-ing candidates. But the lumber yard said most employees were involved in hiring because the company “would always ask all of our people if they knew someone before we hired them.”

The court said this wasn’t enough. (Madden v. Lumber One, No. 13-2214, 8th Cir., 2014)

Online resources Read the U.S. Department of Labor’s description of what is considered an exempt executive at www.dol.gov/whd/overtime/fs17b_executive.pdf.

Show employee’s ‘direct involvement’in hiring to verify executive exemption

Legal BriefsEmployee can’t sue

a customer for retaliationDianne was a driver for a trucking company. When she stopped at a store for a delivery, the customer refused to let her use the bathroom. Dianne complained to the custom-er’s HR office. The store responded by telling Dianne’s boss that it didn’t want Dianne to handle deliveries anymore because she was “obnox-ious.” Dianne sued the customer, alleging retaliation for the complaint. The court dismissed her claim. (McIntyre v. Roly’s Trucking, ND TX)

The lesson: The customer didn’t employ Dianne, so it could not be held liable for retaliating against her.

Courts are quicker to zap employees for ‘junk’ lawsuitsCharlene sued her ex-employer for racial bias. But at pretrial discovery, she was uncooperative and refused to provide documents. The judge tossed out her case and ordered her to pay her former employer $5,000 in sanctions as punishment. (Emanuel v. Bastrup, WD TX)

The lesson: Meritless lawsuits eat time and money. Fortunately, courts are becoming more willing to punish those who bring truly frivolous cases. That trend may prevent some suits.

Joking about worker’s age can spark a not-so-funny lawsuitWhen Arnold, a car dealership man-ager, approached his 60th birthday, his boss began calling him “the old man” and kidding him about not hearing the phone ring. When Arnold was terminated and replaced with a younger man, he sued for age bias. The court sent his case to trial, say-ing name-calling was enough evi-dence. (Johnson v. Crossroads Ford, Court of Appeals of North Carolina)

The lesson: Courts aren’t impressed with the “We were only kidding” defense. Remind bosses to avoid ageist comments, even in jest.

4 The HR Specialist • September 2014 www.theHRSpecialist.com

The old suggestion box: How to make it work

Some suggestions from our readers …Wanted: Ideas. Reward! “We keep

a stack of index cards by a slot-ted box in the breakroom. A sign above says “We consider all sug-gestions—both large and small. If yours is used, you will receive a $25

Starbucks gift card.” When employees hear of their co-work-ers actually receiving the gift cards, it moti-vates them to offer up their ideas.” — Morris

Anonymity frees the mind. “People in our office seemed concerned that they might be sin-gled out if they suggested something controversial, so we created an electronic whiteboard that anyone can post a message on, and IT set it up so that it’s always anonymous if the user wants it to be.” — Charlotte

Levity scores points too. “To make sure the suggestion box doesn’t fill up with only negativity, our boss always hands out a little prize for the funniest suggestion as well as the best one. Since this started, the number of contributions to the box has risen.” — Blake

When an employee signals his intention to depart—either

in two weeks or two months—you probably want him to teach his replacement the ropes. But employ-ees are sometimes resistant to train-ing their replacements.

To convince the employee to help with training, send this message:• Training is a valuable acquired

skill that can help your career. • Training is an opportunity to

make a visible impact on the orga-nization. When the replacement becomes successful, it reflects well on the trainer.

• Training a replacement is the last impression an employee leaves on his supervisor, who may be called upon later to give a job recommendation.

How to structure training It’s not enough to simply tell employees to train their replace-ments. Use the following tips to cre-ate guidelines and expectations: • Don’t depend solely on an

employee’s job knowledge and memory. Put the position’s duties, processes and best practices into writing for use by employees doing the training.

• Include timetables and goals. Prepare a daily or weekly schedule of areas to cover. Start with the simplest tasks. Have the trainer provide a daily status report on the process.

• Ask the trainee to shadow the trainer for at least a day or two to observe the job’s daily details.

• Require the trainee to perform aspects of the job step-by-step in front of the trainer, and gradu-ally assume more of the position’s duties.

• Have the trainee perform the entire job before the current employee exits the role. This allows time for the trainee to receive feedback before taking over. Final note: Develop a culture of

training replacements so it becomes expected of every departing worker.

Employee isn’t enthusiastic about traininghis replacement? Here’s what to say & do

Communication

How to keep staff productive in final two weeksShort-timers often tune out before they walk out. Here’s how to get the most production out of your departing employees:✓ Create a transition plan immediately. If a replacement won’t come on board for

several weeks, draft a plan that divides up work among remaining staffers. If you have an in-house successor lined up, craft a training and transition plan. Include the status of unfinished work and deadlines for completing it.

✓ Hold a “checklist meeting” with the worker. Review the transition plan and explain your work expectations. If you have an in-house replacement, include that person. Ask the employee to be available for questions from the replace-ment (by phone) for a limited period after his or her exit.

✓ Explain the personal benefits of finishing strong. Last impressions are important. ✓ Increase overall leadership and responsibility. Develop ways for employees to

pass on their knowledge and skills before leaving. Ask them to assist co-work-ers with projects and answer any questions. Appeal to employees’ pride by say-ing, “Your co-workers admire your knowledge, and they can benefit from it.”

✓ Don’t wait for the last day to do an exit interview. Employees will be more open to talk when they’re on their way out.

Top 10 weirdest ideas dropped in suggestion boxes 1. Add tanning bed to break room.2. Put beer in vending machine.3. Cover jail time in leave policy.4. Allow staff to work only in day-

light if they’re afraid of the dark.5. Institute Bikini Fridays.6. Replace my desk with a futon

so I can lie down and work.7. Install a swimming pool.8. Hold a team meeting in Hawaii.9. Allow naps in lactation room.10. Tell the HR person to wear

nicer shoes.Source: CareerBuilder.com survey

www.theHRSpecialist.com September 2014 • The HR Specialist 5

It seemed like an easy call. You were looking for a depart-

ment supervisor. Kevin was a good employee in that department. He knew all the right people and had a way with words. So he was quickly elevated to manager.

But it soon became apparent that while Kevin was great at doing the job, he was a disaster at managing people who did the job. Now what should you do?

Anyone who’s hired supervisors knows that the skills to perform a job are totally different than the skills to manage that same position. Here are traits to look for when assessing whether a worker could step into a leadership role:1. People skills. Does the employee

easily collaborate on projects and respectfully consider others’ ideas?

Has he or she ever voluntarily

Voluntarily helps co-workers? If yes, this is a good start.

2. Leadership abilities. These are the workers who step up and take charge in a positive way and their peers gravitate toward that cha-risma. They are self-starters and show confidence in what they do. Workers who come to you often for direction and guidance will have a harder time as a manager.

3. Risk-takers. We’re not talking about recklessness here. You’re looking for employees who aren’t

afraid to take good-faith calculated risks when they see an opening for progress. Look for someone who displays a little entrepreneurial flair.

4. No fear of conflict. Your supervisors will confront conflict. There’s no getting around it. They will deal with complain-ers, whiners and slackers. They will need to hand out discipline and dish out criticism to people they once hobnobbed with. Any employee who avoids conflict at all costs will either hate being a boss or won’t be very good at it—or both.

5. Company integrity. Anyone who has been heard to bad-mouth the organization’s leaders, pro-cesses or goals won’t likely stop if he or she becomes a boss.

Promoting employee to manager: Top 5 things to look forStaffing

Employee is out on FMLA leave: How much contact can we have with her?Q. What are the employer’s rights in contacting employees during their FMLA leave? Can we ask how she is doing? Can we expect she will stay at home recuperating in accordance with the doctor’s direc-tion? — Terry, New JerseyA. Your rights to contact an employee on an FMLA leave are somewhat limited. Some employees have brought FMLA interference claims against employers who reached out, for example, to ask about the status of work projects. For that reason, most employers try to keep contacts with the employees who are on leave to a minimum.

There are some basic ground rules about FMLA leave: First, employees are not expected to stay at home while on leave. Some even take jobs that they are able to perform while they recuperate. Your ability to contact employees on leave for “updates” on their condition is also limited. If a physician says the person must be out for six weeks, for example, you should not do more than inquire as that date draws near whether they expect to be released to return at that time.

On the other hand, if the FMLA leave is intermittent, you can require regular communications and updates about the need for leave, especially when foreseeable (such as planned physician visits). If you have a good-faith reason to believe that an employee is engaging in

fraud, the law does allow you to follow up and investi-gate your proof.

Online resource Download our free report, FMLA Intermittent Leave, at www.BusinessManagementDaily.com/FMLAintermittentleave.

Boss’s son: Employee or independent contractor?Q. Our company president’s teenage son was hired to do incidental work around our office—copy-ing, filing, etc. He’s signed a Professional Services Agreement, which specifies he will be paid $10 an hour. Payroll was told not to put him on the payroll because he’s an independent contractor. We think he should be put on the payroll. Who’s correct? — Beth, ArizonaA. You are. The proper classification of a worker as an employee or independent contractor doesn’t depend on whether a signed document classifies him one way or another. The critical determination is whether he quali-fies as an employee under the common law test—that is, the company has the right to control his work. You must be diplomatic, however, since it’s the boss’s son. Put your concerns in writing, and print and save copies of any response; you will eventually need them.

HR Q&A

Do you have a question? If so, you can email it to The HR Specialist at HRSeditor@BusinessManagementDaily.com.

Any employee who avoids conflict at all costs will either hate being a boss or won’t be very good at it—or both.

6 The HR Specialist • September 2014 www.theHRSpecialist.com

Copy the text below and distribute it to the managers at your organization. Or access the text online at www.theHRSpecialist.com/managers, and send it to managers electronically.

To: _____________________________________________ Date: September 2014From: _____________________________________________ Re: Managing Workaholics

Memo to Managers

Give managers three wishes for their staffs and there’s a good

chance one will be a department full of “hard workers.”

Too many managers, however, equate hard work with long hours, minimal vacations and staying con-nected 24/7. Such an employee is probably less a hard worker and more a workaholic.

In his book Chained to the Desk, psychotherapist Bryan Robinson defines the problem “an obsessive compulsive disorder that manifests itself through self-imposed demands, an inability to regulate work habits, and an overindulgence in work to the exclusion of most other activities.”

Workaholic or hard worker? A true workaholic has a compulsive need to work at the expense of every-thing else. A hard worker, on the other hand, does what is necessary to complete a specific task, but does not allow the task to consume him.

The hard worker makes time to relax. The workaholic does not and constantly thinks about work.

Workaholics log long hours and come in on holidays and weekends, even when they don’t have pressing deadlines. A hard worker works long hours on a short-term basis to meet defined goals.

A workaholic tends to do a lot of busy work and checking and recheck-ing of his work. A hard worker com-pletes assignments efficiently.

A workaholic often gets an adren-aline rush from working. Hard work-ers do not.

Workaholic symptoms: being the first in the office and the last to leave, hoarding work, having dif-ficulty delegating, imposing pressure to be perfect and skipping breaks.

Finding balance: 9 tipsSuspect you’re managing a worka-holic? Here are tips to help the employee find balance, and the orga-

nization cut costs and liability:1. Don’t praise or reward long hours. Performance results, not face time, should be the catalyst for rewards and accolades.2. Create work boundar-ies. Don’t let employees take

work home without permission. Stress that they are prohibited from tending to work matters while on breaks or on vacation.

3. Discipline those who cross established boundaries. Express appreciation for the employee’s desire, but explain the importance of following staff rules. Start with a verbal warning.

4. Monitor employee workloads to ensure that taking work home or staying late isn’t the only way for them to complete their assign-ments. If workloads appear to be the problem, do what it takes to lighten the load (delegate tasks to

others, hire a new staff or help the employee prioritize assignments).

5. Celebrate a work/life balance. When employees ask to leave early to attend a child’s soccer game or take the dog to an obedience class, accommodate them if possible.

6. Lead by example. If you’re an all-work-and-no-play person, employees may assume that it’s the only way to get ahead.

7. Express your concern in terms of performance. Don’t say: “You’re a workaholic. Stop working so much.” Say: “I’ve noticed that you’ve been putting in 60 hours a week, but only producing 20 hours of work. Why?” Then create an action plan for improvement.

8. Consult with IT to deny general employee access to the company network and work site after certain hours or on weekends/holidays.

9. Educate employees of the risks. Post information on a bulletin board. Workaholics Anonymous pro-vides free materials and a 20-ques-tion risk assessment online (www.workaholics-anonymous.org).

How to effectively manage workaholic employeesCommunication

Workaholism: The legal & health risksWorkaholics can be a danger to themselves, their co-workers and the work-place. Their compulsion can wear them out to the point of becoming sleep deprived, which can result in shoddy work, absenteeism and on-the-job accidents.

Can “work addiction” ever rise to the level of a disability that’s protected under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)? Not likely. But employees wouldn’t have a hard time showing that a physical ailment triggered by their workaholic lifestyle—high blood pressure, carpal tunnel syndrome, anxiety dis-orders, etc.—could put the person in an ADA job-protected category. These ail-ments also lead to overuse of health insurance and workers’ comp claims.

Another key issue: the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), which requires over-time pay for hourly employees who work more than 40 hours in a week. Since cellphones and laptops let employees stay connected during all hours of the day, the organization could be on the hook for unanticipated overtime costs or a pay-related lawsuit.

www.theHRSpecialist.com September 2014 • The HR Specialist 7

STAFF

Volume 12, Number 9 Printed in the United States.

The HR Specialist (ISSN 1545-360X) is published monthly by Business Management Daily, 7600A Leesburg Pike, West Building, Suite 300, Falls Church, VA 22043-2004, (800) 543-2055, www.theHRSpecialist.com. Annual subscription price: $299.

© 2014, Business Management Daily, a division of Capitol Information Group, Inc. All rights reserved. Duplication in any form, in clud ing photocopying or electronic reproduc-tion, without permission is strictly prohibited and is subject to legal action.

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NEW! The ultimate HR resource—stop guessing,

start complying.Get 4 FREE bonus gifts for just trying

The HR Weekly—Act NOW!theHRSpecialist.com/HRWeekly

by Lori Kleiman

It is increasingly common that a sole practitioner run the HR

department for an organization. The position varies from a high level HR leader to an organizational team member who does HR along-side other functions for the organi-zation.

Regardless of the experience and totality of the position, sole HR practitioners can rely on these tips to get the job done.

1. Align your tasks with the com-pany’s goals. HR people are pulled in many directions. Your CEO wants you to bring down costs … employees think you are there to meet their every need … outside entities are constantly calling with reference checks and compliance obligations.

Advice: Clearly define the actions you need to complete to meet the goals of your organization—and let the rest come later.

2. Publicize your goals. Others will define your role in a way that suits their needs. Work with your manager to create three or four meaningful goals that support your organization’s strategic plan.

Then make it clear that this is what you are working on. Empower yourself and your HR

function by saying no to those things that don’t fit into your goals or schedule.

Advice: Hang a list of your goals in the office for all to see.

3. Get control of your internal processes. Completing an HR assessment is a critical step to understanding where you may be losing time or have noncompli-ance issues.

Advice: Constantly evaluate your processes and make life easier for yourself.

4. Manage vendors—don’t let them manage you. Know your key vendors and reach out to them to take critical tasks off your plate. Review contracts annually and ensure you under-stand the deliverables.

Advice: Set a meeting with each vendor to review the agreement. Check to see what services they

may have to ease your workload.

5. Connect with others outside your organization. Sole practi-tioners especially need to get out of the organization and see how others operate. This helps bring new ideas to your role and com-plete goals without reinventing the wheel.

Advice: Mastermind groups and nonprofit boards are a great way to meet others with simi-lar interests and share ideas and resources. Look for connections you can make today.

All sole practitioners bring valu-able assets to the table—but flying alone doesn’t mean you have to do it all alone! Using these tips, you should be able to identify the areas that create alignment within your organization and give you back control of your day. Find others you can count on to gain control and elevate your HR function.

Flying solo: 5 steps to control an HR department of oneExpert Advisor

Lori Kleiman, SPHR, is the president of the HR Topics consulting firm and the author of HR-related books, includ-ing HR You Can Use. For informa-tion on her webinar on this topic, go to www.BusinessManagementDaily.com/SoloHR.

8 The HR Specialist • September 2014 www.theHRSpecialist.com

40% of workers would quit if not for health benefitsYour benefits program might be an even bigger retention tool than you thought. A new survey says that 40% of employees appear to be experiencing “job lock” because of health benefits. That is, they would leave their jobs if they could buy health insurance on the open market that is comparable in cost and coverage to their company benefits, says a Securian Financial Group survey, More than half (56%) say they have considered leaving their jobs to do something more personal or meaningful but didn’t because they need the health insurance.

The upside of lying down on the jobSome employers are encouraging workers to sleep on the job. The Society for Human Resource Management’s 2014 poll of HR pros says 6% of workplaces have nap rooms where employees can catch up on their Z’s. In a National Sleep Foundation survey, 34% of workers said their bosses let them nap at work. The foundation’s research indicates that even a 10-minute midday nap can make employees more alert and improve cognitive performance for several hours afterward, reducing the chance for mistakes and accidents.

Telecommuting not as prevalent as you might thinkOnly 2.6% of the U.S. workforce (3.3 million people, not including the self-employed or unpaid volunteers) consider home their primary place of work, according to Global Workplace Analytics, a San Diego-based consulting and research firm. Telework has grown 79.7% since 2005, although the growth rate slowed sharply during the recession—and declined by 1.5% between 2011 and 2012.

LinkedIn’s $6 million payout offers key legal lessonsLinkedIn, the business-oriented social media site, was targeted for a DOL investigation and last month agreed to pay nearly $6 million in overtime back wages and liquidated damages to 359 former and current employees.

The issue: A group of sales and marketing employees should have been eligible for overtime pay but weren’t because they were classified as exempt. Because the com-pany believed the workers were exempt, it didn’t track the employees’ hours. A LinkedIn spokesperson said the violations were caused by “not having the right tools in place … to track hours properly.”

Learn more about the DOL rules on exemptions and overtime pay at www.dol.gov/whd/overtime_pay.htm.

You lost me at ‘Hello’It may have been one of the worst layoff memos of all time. After beginning with a breezy “Hello there,” Microsoft honcho Stephen Elop’s July 17 all-staff email stumbled downhill. The first 843 words expounded on innovation and markets. Astute readers might have started worrying the 10th time Elop used the word “focus” during his protracted wind-up. Only in the 11th paragraph did he deliver the news: Microsoft was planning “an estimated reduction of 12,500 factory direct and professional employees.” Advice: If you’re announcing plans to cut thousands of jobs, just say so.

FYI

The HR I.Q. Test

Answers: 1. c 2. b 3. b 4. c 5. c 6. a

1. What percentage of U.S. employers say they still prefer to receive applicant résumés via postal mail?a. 18% b. 7% c. 1%

2. What are the size requirements for federal workplace posters?a. At least 8½” by 11” for all postersb. OSHA poster must be 8½” by 14”;

others must be “easily readable”c. All wage-related posters must be

at least 8½” by 11”; others must be “readable”

3. Employees and students tend to retain their training better when they:a. Watch the correct behavior in a

videob. Write down by hand the lessons

learnedc. Take their minds to a “happy place”

before learning

4. Employers say the most common lies they catch on résumés relate to:a. Academic degreesb. Dates of employmentc. Embellished skill set

5. This summer marked the 50th anniversary of what important employment law?a. Age Discrimination Actb. Pregnancy Discrimination Actc. Civil Rights Act

6. What percentage of U.S. employees say they need to earn $100,000 or more per year to “feel successful”?a. 23% b. 35% c. 46%

Sources: 1. Society for Human Resource Management survey; 2. Department of Labor; 3. Princeton/University of California study; 4. CareerBuilder.com survey; 5. EEOC; 6. CareerBuilder.com survey