Top 5 Myths About Workers’ Compensation

If you want to give a human resources professional a migraine, just whisper two words in their ear: workers’ compensation. This system of government-regulated insurance for work-related illnesses and injuries is as complicated as it is vast. In most states, workers’ compensation is a “three-way” system: an employer can be self-insured, participate in the state-funded program, or obtain third party insurance. But fear not. The following pointers will dispel the top five myths about workers’ compensation.

How Do Companies Communicate with Employees in Difficult Times?

In my experience, there are two main schools of thought on how companies should communicate with employees during a recession.

1) It is better to wait to communicate with employees until you have all the information you can gather. Otherwise, employees may ask questions you cannot answer and you may look bad from their perspective.
2) We all live in a world of uncertainty and waiting before presenting information will only stimulate the rumor mill and employee anxiety.

This blog post will summarize why I prefer the latter approach. I will use as an example the situation I wrote about recently, of having to layoff or terminate employees as a last resort to get through a recession.

Employee Communications Part 1: Some Do’s and Don’ts

A key influencer of the bottom line in any workplace is communication. Be it with customers, internally or even with the media, communication can and does affect any business model at every level. Even the military views a unit’s ability to operate efficiently as having the ability to “shoot, move, and communicate.”

In my time in the workforce, both military and civilian, and I have seen some methods of communication – particularly employee communications internally from management - that are indeed either powerfully efficient, or dreadfully ineffective.

Layoffs, Terminations, and Corporate Responsibility

There’s no doubt about it. What’s going on now in the economy is tough. Everyone is stressed to meet payroll and to drum up whatever revenue may still be out there.

I commend for the foresight and humanitarianism of organizations that hold onto their workers in spite of declining revenues. The growing emphasis on corporate responsibility is possibly inspiring their noble choices. But they also know that, if possible in times like these, it is a good investment to retain talented employees who have proven their value and to wait out the downturn with them. They also realize few other employers are hiring and, if they let employees go, the employees and their families will have serious difficulty.

Why You Need a Compensation Philosophy

By Staff Writer

In a recent PayScale webinar, Stacey Carroll, MBA, SPHR, touched on a key HR process that can get skipped when life at the office becomes too hectic. Once you’re done sorting out a new hire’s training schedule or making sure current employees understand their medical benefits, it’s important to set aside time to review or create your company’s compensation philosophy. This philosophy will then inform your compensation policy. And, that policy acts as the foundation of smart compensation program.

How do you get started in this HR process and what is the difference between a compensation philosophy and a compensation policy?

Q&A Session – The Essentials of Developing a Total Compensation Policy

The following is a transcript of the question and answer session that followed PayScale’s webinar, Developing Your Compensation Philosophy & Policy. The topics covered in these questions include vacation time, salary comparisons and sharing salary range information with employees. The main focus is developing a compensation plan philosophy and creating a compensation policy that’s competitive. Answers are provided by PayScale director of customer service and education, Stacey Carroll, MBA, SPHR.

What Happened to the Future Labor Shortage?

Whatever happened to all that talk about the looming labor shortage? You remember the experts telling us that we were going to see a labor shortage in the not too distant future? More open positions with not enough people to fill them. This effect would occur as the aging Baby Boomers start retiring and there would not be enough workers from the younger generations to replace them. Attention on this issue has not surfaced much these days probably due to our economic recession and high unemployment. It is difficult to think about labor shortages when there is currently a labor glut.

Why Employee Development Is Important

Employee development is something that most people imagine as intrusive all-day group training sessions. Unfortunately, this dreaded approach to employee development is just the opposite of how employee development should occur and feel to employees. Employee development can manifest itself in many forms of training, evaluations, educational programs, and even feedback. If executed correctly, the effects of training on employee performance can often encourage growth within the worker and the organization itself.
 

Q&A Session – Expert Ideas for Executive Compensation

The following is a transcript of the question and answer session that followed PayScale’s webinar, How to Develop Your Executive Pay Strategy. The topics covered in these questions include adjusting to a down economy, finding salary data for a unique industry and total cash compensation. Answers are provided by author Sharon Koss, SPHR, CCP, president of Koss Management Consulting

How to Target Pay Rates for a Job Position

Here at PayScale, the HR professionals that we work with often ask us, “What method should we use for targeting pay rates for a position?” While the compensation planning tool that we offer our customers gives them plenty of numbers and calculations, it does not provide a pay strategy for a particular job position. That's up to you to develop based on company goals.

So, how do you narrow down all of your salary data strategically?