Disconnect Health Insurance from Employment

It’s reasonable for health insurance companies to ask policyholders about their lifestyles. After all, that’s a key element in the risk equation. But when insurance is provided by the employer, privacy becomes a major issue. Individuals may have lifestyle and other health-related issues they’d rather people at work didn’t know about. Orlando Sentinel columnist Beth Kassab says she is getting “used to”...

Give Employees an Alternative to Sick Time

Businesses lose millions of dollars each year due to unscheduled absenteeism. The most-cited reason for last-minute absences is family issues, followed by personal illness, personal needs, stress, and an entitlement mentality. When an employee is unexpectedly absent, you have to pay direct costs (the salary or wages paid to absent employees) and indirect costs (overtime pay for other employees, hiring temporary...

6 Ways to Motivate Part-time Employees

Part-time employees are an essential segment of the workforce for many businesses, especially seasonal operations, but it’s not always easy to keep them motivated. They often do low-level work, may not have much of an opportunity for advancement within the company, and are frequently ignored (or worse) by full-timers. While it’s understandable that part-timers may not be the most enthusiastic members of your...

It’s Party Season – Are You Liable?

Let the Parties Begin But protect yourself from liability during the holiday season   Once the holiday season is in full swing, along with the fun, the parties, and the gift exchanging comes some increased exposure to personal and business liability. While you don’t want to turn into a Scrooge when it comes to holiday celebrations, you still need to reduce your potential risk. For example, it’s not...

What Language is Spoken in Your Company?

No, this isn’t a rant about English-only or bilingual workplaces — it’s a rant about corporate jargon sparked when I read an article by Laura Vanderkam, “Why you should cool it with the corporate jargon.” I understand how internal jargon develops and why using acronyms can save time if everybody understands the code — but that’s a big if. When people don’t speak the...