The workers speak: 4 reasons why managers’ feedback doesn’t stick

by Tim Gould

Nothing is more frustrating than employees who don’t listen. And most managers know the struggle of trying to get employees to follow their advice.  

Although it’s easy for irritated managers to point the finger at employees, the root of the issue just might lie in the way managers communicate with these workers.

Karin Hurt, writing on letsgrowleaders.com, offers a solid theory on why feedback sessions don’t work for employees: They’re not listening.

4 pitfalls

Hurt highlights four reasons why employees say they ignore managers’ feedback:

• Too much, too soon. Employees may be trying to improve, but if managers are constantly pointing at new areas for improvement, they won’t be able to keep up. Instead, managers should focus on one change at a time, and see it through before moving on to something else.

Click here for entire article. 

Tip Tuesday! DOL quietly drops big news on new overtime rules

by Christian Schappel

The DOL’s been pretty quiet about what it’s doing behind the scenes about changing the overtime exemption rules and salary threshold. But it has finally spoken. 

This week, at the American Bar Association’s Labor and Employment Law conference in Philadelphia, the Solicitor of Labor M. Patricia Smith shared some insider info that elicited “gasps” from the audience, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal.

Smith said during a panel discussion that the finalized changes to the FLSA’s overtime eligibility rules likely won’t be issued until late 2016. From that juicy piece of info, one could surmise that they won’t take effect until 2017.

This is huge news for the business community, which hasn’t been shy about expressing outrage over the proposed overtime rule changes the DOL issued this summer. The delay means employers have more time to prepare, even though they don’t know what the finalized rules will look like yet.


The period during which the public can comment on the proposed rules ended Sept. 4, and the DOL received roughly 270,000 comments during that period. That’s about three times the amount of comments the agency received when it last updated the overtime rules back in 2004. About 50,000 comments came in during the last week alone.

Click here for entire article.

2 big pieces of news in the world of retirement planning

by Christian Schappel

Two very interesting things happened in the world of retirement planning this week that employers will want to take note of. 

Let’s start with the more earth-shaking of the two:

No. 1: State-run retirement plans

The Obama administration wants to make it easier for states to provide individuals whose employers don’t offer retirement plans with access to such plans.

As a result, the DOL issued a proposed rule that would allow and guide states to establish state-sponsored IRAs in which individuals could automatically be enrolled. According to the proposal, individuals must be given the opportunity to opt out, but absent taking that action, they’d be enrolled in the plans.

As for how this proposed rule would affect employers: They’d be responsible for coordinating and making the payroll deductions that would be deposited into the plans.

The proposed rule also contains guidelines on creating state-based, ERISA-compliant 401(k) plans that are open to small businesses and workers.

The states themselves or third-party vendors would act as the retirement plan fiduciaries for the IRAs.


The proposed rule has drawn a lot of criticism already, much of which has come from financial industry insiders who fear the proposal could undercut private sector ventures.

Click here for entire article. 

ACA reporting rules: Why 12 minutes is the magic number

by Jared Bilski

How long will the ACA reporting process take? The IRS may be able to help you determine how much of your schedule you need to block off. 

When the IRS released the final instructions for 1095-C reporting, it included another critical piece of information other than just how-tos: The amount of time its likely to take employers to complete ACA returns.

The IRS estimates it’ll take employers an average of 12 minutes to complete each 1095-C return.

12 X 50, 100, 150 …

When you consider that at the bare minimum, employers subject to the ACA reporting requirements will be completing 50 returns, the reporting process is a significant time commitment. At 12 minutes per form, those 50 returns should take 600 minutes or 10 hours to complete.

Of course, this is just an estimate and, considering this is a brand-new, high-stakes process, it’s likely to take many employers longer than the average amount of time the IRS estimates. Still, the estimate does help give you some type of perspective on the time-commitment necessary for the actual reporting process.

Lines 14 and 15

While you’ll no doubt want to go over the IRS’ instructions with all parties involved in the reporting process, there are two lines in the instructions that are likely to be particularly helpful when it comes time to do the actual reporting:

Click here for entire article. 

Is this health cost-cutter worth the morale hit?

by Jared Bilski

Employers are always looking for proven ways to lower health costs, so why are so many firms balking at a tactic with guaranteed results?  

Restricting healthcare coverage to employees’ spouses who are offered health insurance through their own employer will no doubt impact an employer’s healthcare costs.

Consider these findings from a 2014 study by the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI): Insured employees spent an average of $5,430 on healthcare services, while insured spouses spent $6,609, a difference of $1,179.

(Note: Because the EBRI study found that spouses in an employment-based health plan are two times more likely to be female than male, the stark difference in cost uncovered in the EBRI study is at least partly explained by pregnancy-related expenses for wives insured through their husbands’ plans.)

Even if employers aren’t comfortable completely excluding spouses who can receive coverage elsewhere, there are other deterrents such as imposing a spousal surcharge.

But in spite of the potential savings of such a move, a surprisingly low number of employers are tackling the cost of spousal healthcare coverage through carve-outs.

Click here for entire article. 

Tip Tuesday! DOL quietly drops big news on new overtime rules

by Christian Schappel

The DOL’s been pretty quiet about what it’s doing behind the scenes about changing the overtime exemption rules and salary threshold. But it has finally spoken. 

This week, at the American Bar Association’s Labor and Employment Law conference in Philadelphia, the Solicitor of Labor M. Patricia Smith shared some insider info that elicited “gasps” from the audience, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal.

Smith said during a panel discussion that the finalized changes to the FLSA’s overtime eligibility rules likely won’t be issued until late 2016. From that juicy piece of info, one could surmise that they won’t take effect until 2017.

This is huge news for the business community, which hasn’t been shy about expressing outrage over the proposed overtime rule changes the DOL issued this summer. The delay means employers have more time to prepare, even though they don’t know what the finalized rules will look like yet.

The period during which the public can comment on the proposed rules ended Sept. 4, and the DOL received roughly 270,000 comments during that period. That’s about three times the amount of comments the agency received when it last updated the overtime rules back in 2004. About 50,000 comments came in during the last week alone.

But despite that last-minute outpouring of commentary, the DOL announced it wouldn’t extend the comment period. It said the standard 60-day comment period — combined with its outreach efforts prior to the proposal being published — was enough to “produce a quality regulation.”

Click here for entire article.

Dealing with angry employees: 4 tips for managers

by Tim Gould

We’ve never heard a manager grouse about a shortage of employee complaints. We’ve heard a few moan about how to handle those complaints, however.  

Whether it’s concerns over schedules, disputes over job assignments or just disputes with co-workers, these conversations can get heated from time to time.

What should managers do when a normal interaction gets hot and turns into an argument?
They can try these four steps to keep a discussion cool:

1. Let the person vent

Managers should show empathy by saying something like, “I’d be upset too if I was dealing with this” or “I get why you’re frustrated about the situation.”

Important: Don’t take the anger personally. They’re just venting about a problem.

It’s also best to try not to interrupt while they’re venting. Listen to the key points while they’re getting it off their chest.

2. Repeat after me

Once he or she is done speaking, the manager should paraphrase and repeat back what they think they heard.

Click here for entire article.