Author: Site Staff

A New Hanover, North Carolina, firm will pay $1.3 million to 3,661 current and former employees because of a problem with the company’s time clock.

The Wilmington Star-News reports that employees will receive varying amounts, with an average of $300.

Time clocks at New Hanover Regional Hospital were programmed incorrectly during the summer of 2001. Employees who punched the clock 15 minutes early at the start of their shifts or 15 minutes after their shifts ended weren’t paid for the extra hours worked.

The hospital corrected the error, according to the Star-News, but owes employees back pay. The hospital has audited 7,000 records of hourly employees who worked at the hospital during the period in question. It has also tried to figure out a $2,500 difference between the U.S. Department of Labor ‘s figures and the hospital’s figures–though if the hospital erred in the audit, it apparently did so on the side of the employees.

A new study suggests that workplace smoking bans are causing employees to cut back on the habit, rather than just finding other places to smoke.

The University of Toronto’s Ontario Tobacco Research Unit finds that in workplaces with smoking bans, 18 percent of employees smoke at least once a day–and puff up on about 15 cigarettes. In companies without a ban, 40 percent of employees smoke, and average about 20 cigarettes.

“A lot of people assume smokers in smoke-free workplaces compensate for being without cigarettes while at work by smoking more at lunch, during breaks or after work–but overall they don’t,” says the University of Toronto’s Thomas Stephens. “People are more likely to cut down or to give up cigarettes.”

The University of Toronto surveyed adults between ages 20 and 64. The results were “controlled,” so that they weren’t influenced by such factors as stress, depression or attempts to quit smoking.

More information is available online, including case studies in managing health costs; a workplace-wellness checklist; as well as information from an attorney on smoking bans.

A tentative agreement with its pilots union that Delta announced Thursday would freeze the pilots’ defined-benefit plan and add a new defined-contribution plan, according to TheStreet.

TheStreet reports that the deal also “provides a 32.5 percent wage reduction from May 2004 levels, effective Dec. 1, with no increases for five years. Pilots will also receive about 30 million shares of Delta common stock, representing a 15 percent equity stake in the company.” In a statement issued Thursday, Delta said that it is “committed to the principle that employees will have an opportunity to share in any success their sacrifice helps make possible.”

Delta has already announced the elimination of 6,000 to 7,000 non-pilot positions. Delta CEO Gerald Grinstein says he’s doing what he can not to declare bankruptcy, but that there’s no guarantee it will be avoided.

Meanwhile, Delta is updating its cabin interiors; adding more flights from certain cities and cutting back from others; and growing the low-cost airline called Song that Delta started operating last year.

Dear Cleaning:



It depends on what you mean by “mess.” Are jobs out of whack with the market? Are there significant issues with perceived internal equity? Do your policies fail to provide managers with tools for managing pay? Is your salary structure woefully out-of-date?

Your answers to the above questions will influence how you’ll proceed. In general, though, you’ll first need to assess which is more important: internal equity or external competitiveness. Once you’ve done that, you can begin to assess and evaluate what must be changed immediately, what can wait and what does not have to be addressed. Keep the following in mind as you proceed:

Define a compensation philosophy for the organization. This not only helps guide your efforts, but also forms the core of the message you want to communicate to your employees.

Make sure job descriptions are up-to-date and accurate. If they aren’t, have the employees and managers revise them.

Use only high-quality published (or custom) salary survey sources. Internet sources are highly variable in quality and value.

Be up front with employees about the issues and what you’re doing to address them going forward. For many employees, pay is not a motivator. Still, if not properly managed, salary levels can create tremendous dissatisfaction within a company. A well-thought-out plan of action is your best line of attack.

SOURCE: Robert Fulton, managing director,The Pathfinder’s Group, Inc., an affiliate of The Chatfield Group, Chicago, November 25, 2003.

LEARN MORE:How to Conduct an Effective Pay Survey.

The information contained in this article is intended to provide useful information on the topic covered, but should not be construed as legal advice or a legal opinion. Also remember that state laws may differ from the federal law.

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Dear Workforce Newsletter

Dear Promising:



Most change management requires significant up-front planning. The simplest way to prepare involves putting a foundation in place–prerequisites that precede any change journey. Companies risk failing to effect change if one or more of these are missing.

Before embarking on change management, be sure to:

• Clearly align the change with the company’s strategy. Key players must understand the business benefits of the change effort and have a sense of intellectual ownership.
  
• Understand what you’re likely to achieve. Too many change efforts fail simply because they don’t seem reasonable, don’t have clear goals or have no end in sight.
  
• Make certain that senior executives are committed to achieving change. For companies lacking adequate senior-level commitment and sponsorship, successful change management often is elusive, or even impossible.
  
• Verify that your organization has sufficient resources–financial, personnel, time, attention, etc.–to sustain the initiative until a positive return on investment is attained (in addition to maintaining acceptable business performance and delivering on other simultaneous change initiatives).
  
• Assess the need for external help and find outside resources if they are appropriate.
  

Once the journey is under way, managing change effectively depends on four concerns, each of which helps you identify and act on problems.

1) Navigation, consisting of:

• Integrating the program with management and employees
  
• Coordinating initiatives
  
• Managing costs
  
• Prioritizing resources
  

2) Enablement, specifically:

• Redesigning processes and the organization
  
• Developing human resources policies
  
• Offering appropriate training
  
• Creating effective communication
  

3) Leadership, which involves:

• Making sure there are effective role models among senior management
  
• Making managers and supervisors accountable
  
• Offering coaching and counseling
  

4) Ownership, namely:

• Creating teams to plan and implement the program locally
  
• Creating a change “network” across the company
  
• Confirming that people affected by change are involved, are heard, understand the need for change, believe it is positive and receive effective communication
  

SOURCE: Patrick Mosher, associate partner, Accenture’s human performance service line, Minneapolis, November 26, 2003.

LEARN MORE:Incentives and the Art of Changing Behavior.

The information contained in this article is intended to provide useful information on the topic covered, but should not be construed as legal advice or a legal opinion. Also remember that state laws may differ from the federal law.

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Dear Workforce Newsletter

The attached case study shows what a human resources director might go through when exploring a consumer-driven health plan. It was reprinted from the summer 2004 issue of Benefits Perspectives with permission from Milliman, Inc.

Reuters reports that United Parcel Service may appeal a court decision that told the package-carrier it can’t ban deaf employees from taking jobs as truck drivers.

Last week, a federal judge ruled that UPS could not bar deaf drivers from driving small trucks. UPS had argued that deaf drivers have higher accident rates compared to employees who aren’t hearing impaired.

The federal government sets rules for large trucks–more than five tons. But for smaller vehicles, it’s up to the private sector to set its own rules. According to Reuters, “the plaintiffs’ lawyers estimate that about 1,000 UPS employees are deaf.” UPS has a total of 317,000 employees.

Among the related stories online: several case studies on fatigue management in the transportation industry, as well as more information on discrimination.

Dear Stumped:



The best place to start is to determine the objectives of the relocation program. For example:

• Is the objective to enhance the recruiting process, or to minimize the chances of relocation getting in the way of hiring the preferred candidate?
  
• Is the relocation philosophy designed to “keep the person whole” economically for the move, or to merely assist with personal cash-flow needs?
  
• Should changes in the local cost of living affect the compensation or relocation package? If yes, for what period of time?
  

Consider how much the employee will have to spend on trips to the new location to research the local housing market. Also factor in moving expenses, temporary housing costs, differences in local tax rates, support for spousal career transition and other expenses.

Many relocation companies maintain comprehensive databases with benchmark spending levels for relocation packages. The larger relocation companies can cut their data by industry, company size, geographical area and employee level.

Cross-border relocations are significantly more complicated than domestic relocations and usually require outside expertise to plan and deliver the benefits. Special issues include tax equalization, immigration approvals and work permits, children’s education, retention of home-country residences and visits back home.

SOURCE: Carl Weinberg, principal, PricewaterhouseCoopers HR Services practice, New York City, October 20, 2003.

LEARN MORE: Moving Employees to Hot Housing Markets Is a Tough Sell.

The information contained in this article is intended to provide useful information on the topic covered, but should not be construed as legal advice or a legal opinion. Also remember that state laws may differ from the federal law.

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Dear Workforce Newsletter

Dear Going Virtual:



To avoid being overwhelmed by the diversity in e-learning, start by looking at the big picture. What changes are you trying to make with training initiatives? Have you been successful? If not, is it because you haven’t defined objectives, or is the process flawed?

Once you’ve answered these questions, determine where e-learning fits into the broader equation of adult learning, beginning with this self-assessment:

Is everyone on board with your training initiatives? Without buy-in from the C-level on down, your initiative may produce culture shock rather than culture change.

How do you assess competencies? The best-designed program will fail if you target the wrong skills for development. Similarly, follow-up assessments ensure that the training has paid off and identify new areas needing improvement.

Are your asynchronous (self-paced) programs engaging and do they offer true interaction? Engaging, asynchronous training is a great way for learners to acquire the basic nuts and bolts of interpersonal skills.

What’s your plan for practice and application of newly acquired skills? These vital steps are best handled live. The medium, though, is flexible, encompassing telephone, virtual-classroom and face-to-face interactions.

What support-community tools do you offer? Are they used, or have they become online ghost towns? These can range from self-paced tutorials and online communities to expert-moderated forums, in both synchronous (real-time) and asynchronous environments.

Do learners have access to reinforcement? Good skill reinforcement is where the “just-in-time” concept earns its stripes, allowing learners to grab just enough review, just when they need it.

Does your content follow a sound instructional design process? High-quality content is research based rather than guru based, and is relevant to your curriculum’s skills and objectives.

After answering these questions, tackle the shortcomings in your e-learning programs. When we talk specifically about asynchronous Web-based training, look at these elements:

Interactivity. Strong, interpersonal e-learning has a high degree of interactivity, such as simulations or games. PowerPoint presentations no longer suffice. Where bandwidth and hardware allow, use audio, graphics and even streaming video to engage learners on multiple levels and heighten the reality of the experience.

Interoperability. Courses can’t exist in a vacuum. They should communicate with a learning-management system to track the learner’s progress, scores and other data. To ensure interoperability, build your courses to conform to recognized SCORM (Sharable Content Object Reference Model) and AICC (Aviation Industry Computer-Based Training Committee) industry standards.

Reusability. By embedding descriptive data, known as metadata, within the course’s code, you create reusable learning objects, or RLOs, which multiply the usefulness of those objects across many courses.

SOURCE: Jack McDaniel, media project manager, AchieveGlobal, Tampa, Florida, Sept. 22, 2003.

LEARN MORE: When Choosing Training, the Medium Depends on the Message.

The information contained in this article is intended to provide useful information on the topic covered, but should not be construed as legal advice or a legal opinion. Also remember that state laws may differ from the federal law.

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Dear Workforce Newsletter

Human resources consulting firm Findley Davies has notified its clients that self-funded employers may be able to recoup some of the money they spent on Vioxx shortly before Merck’s September 30 withdrawal of the popular arthritis medication.

Merck officials sent a letter to pharmacy-benefit managers in mid-October that described the reimbursement option, which uses a formula to compensate PBMs for the unused Vioxx distributed through retail pharmacies in September and mail-order pharmacies during the third quarter of 2004, according to Bruce Davis, a Findley Davies principal. Davis was briefed about the letter by a health-industry source.

In addition, Merck officials advise the pharmacy-benefit managers to pass along the reimbursement to its payers, including self-funded employers, if they select the formula approach, Davis says. The other option, he says, is “business as usual,’’ with the rebates continuing to go to the pharmacy-benefit managers. PBMs must contact Merck with their preference by November 8, Davis says. Self-funded employers should call their pharmacy-benefit managers, he says, to determine which reimbursement option they will pursue, and whether the refunds will be passed along.

Merck spokesman Tony Plohoros confirmed that a letter was sent to pharmacy-benefit managers on October 11, but wouldn’t provide any details, saying it was a private communication. Spokespeople at Express Scripts and Medco said they’d received the letter and were passing the information along to their clients, but wouldn’t comment further.

Merck officials voluntarily withdrew Vioxx, a pain reliever and arthritis medication, after a study found that patients taking the drug for more than 18 months faced a slightly increased risk of heart attack or stroke. The medication, introduced in 1999, ranked 20th in total U.S. sales in 2003, reaching $1.8 billion, according to the Connecticut-based research firm IMS Health.

The Vioxx withdrawal is one of the largest to date involving a prescription product, says Todd Brown, vice chair of the department of pharmacy practice at Northeastern University School of Pharmacy. Historically, pharmacy-benefit managers don’t have a good track record of passing along rebates, Brown says, pointing to a recent spate of lawsuits. Before companies ask for any refunds, Brown suggests they first verify that the money won’t limit their future legal options. “I wouldn’t want to be taking payment if it’s going to somehow affect my ability to file a legitimate legal claim down the road.”

–Charlotte Huff