The Emperor's New Clothes: A Cautionary Tale of a Wardrobe Malfunction Hans Christian Andersen’s tale in the 1800’s of the invisible clothes “woven” for the emperor seems an unlikely source for a valuable message for business leaders today. But getting feedback from either an emperor’s subjects or your line operation staff is more difficult as you reach the ranks of a senior manager, president or the emperor. As you move up, you can get cut off from the rest of the organization. Receiving honest and accurate information becomes a challenge.
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Amy Wangerin is your host for September. She holds the position of HR Director, Information & Solutions for MRA and has over 15 years of HR management experience. She has worked with both large, multi-state employers and small organizations in the private sector.
MRA's Health Care HQ has been reorganized by topic to assist you in finding relevant information, as well as having new informational articles, facts and web links added almost daily! Look for this logo on our homepage and MRA's Online Resource Center for all the news, resources, and training you need to help you understand and comply with the many provisions.
The sweeping legislation contains some provisions that are effective this year and others that will be phased in over the next 10 years. MRA will continue to monitor impending regulations that will give employers a better idea of how to comply with these very large and complex laws. Stay tuned to Inside HR, HR Digest, Health Care HQ, and MRA e-alerts for the news you need!
Dos and Don'ts of Talking Politics at Work The start of the 2010 election cycle has brought a new fervor to regional and national politics. Discussions on these issues are becoming more frequent and passionate, and tensions resulting from these discussions are increasingly affecting the workplace environment.
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Have You Visited Our Resource Center Lately?
Over 70 articles, forms and informational pieces were added to MRA’s Online Resource Center during this past month of August!
Some of the topics included in these additions were:
COBRA
· FMLA
· Incentives
· Pay Plans/Bonuses
· Payroll
If there are any other informational pieces/topics, etc., that you, our members, are not able to locate, please let us know at contactus@mranet.org.
In our last edition of Inside HR, we asked about required breastfeeding breaks and how companies are paying employees for these breaks.
From the responses, 43% indicated these breaks would be paid for their employees. Another 26% responded that breastfeeding breaks would be paid for the same duration of time as other breaks but if the breastfeeding breaks exceeded that time, that extension would be unpaid. Fourteen percent said the breaks would be unpaid for their employees and the remaining respondents indicated that they haven’t had to cross that bridge yet.
As part of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), employers are required to provide reasonable breaks to mothers to express milk for their infants. There is also a requirement that employers provide for a private space, other than a restroom, for this purpose. The provision provides that such time can be unpaid, however, according to FLSA rules, breaks of less than 20 minutes need to be paid. This presents an interesting dichotomy for employers. In addition, there may be state laws that already govern breastfeeding breaks and how they should be handled. Employers need to be aware of state laws and comply with what is most beneficial to the employee. For example, Illinois already has a breastfeeding law for the workplace that requires employers to provide an unpaid break and a private space. For a listing of other state laws on this topic, visit the National Conference of State Legislatures.
For more information on breastfeeding in the workplace and a sample policy, members can visit MRA’s Online Resource Center at www.mranet.org.