Jobs: To Cut or Not to Cut
Wave of Layoffs Creates Challenges, Opportunities

The eradication of American jobs skyrocketed in the final months of 2008, making that year’s job loss total of 2.6 million the worst in 60 years. This flood of layoffs presents plenty of challenges for HR staffs who must deal with the compliance aftermath of job elimination.

Sheila Aiken of benefits law firm Aiken & Aiken writes that while layoffs might be a necessary move, employers should tread carefully to make surethey comply with applicable labor laws.

For example, some employers choose to cut the highest-compensated workers first, hoping to maximize savings from the move. However, higher-paid employees often are also the oldest on the payroll because their salaries have increased over time.

“Employers should ensure that they are using objective, legitimate business criteria to make their selections, so they do not leave themselves open to an age discrimination claim,” Aiken wrote recently in her online blog.

Aiken also warns employers that layoffs can trigger trouble under a myriad of laws pertaining to ERISA, Family and Medical Leave Act, Americans with Disabilities Act, COBRA and more.

While many employers have already made the move concerning job cuts, others are scrambling to find alternatives to layoffs. These include reduced hours, salary cuts, hiring freezes and scaled-back benefits, such as 401(k) plans without a company match.

Peter Cappelli, director of the Wharton Center for Human Resources, said holding off on cuts can help employers avoid the compliance headaches and increased premiums in unemployment insurance.

Also, keeping the current staff means a company will be well-stocked with talent and won’t need to spend as much on hiring and training when the economy eventually turns a corner, he said.

Many executives fear that tightening the belt would only drive away the best employees, leaving them with a lower-performing staff, Cappelli said. But most rank-and-file workers are willing to “take one for the team” to save their jobs. In fact, sacrificing wages and benefits to avoid layoffs “might actually build some morale and knit the company together,” Cappelli said.



Finding Wellness Success
Studies: Workers Need a Little New Year’s Nudge

More than one-third of Americans have made weight loss and fitness parts of their New Year’s resolutions, and many are looking for help from their employer, a recent study finds. The survey, by Workplace Options, found that 63 percent of polled workers want their companies to offer wellness programs that include coaching and diet workshops.

Alan King, president of Workplace Options, said trained coaches can benefit a wellness program because they can help employees stay on track.

Companies don’t necessarily have to hire burly personal trainers pushing their employees to do just one more sit-up to see good wellness results. Sometimes, a lot of encouragement from co-workers and the company itself can keep workers fit, according to a recent study published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

Home Depot employees who enrolled in a company program that helped them set exercise goals notably increased their exercise activity, the study found. After six weeks, more than half of the enrollees were completing five 30-minute moderate exercise sessions per week or two 20-minute vigorous sessions per week - an increase from 30 percent at the study’s start. The program was successful in part because it relied on individual and group goal-setting, which fosters peer encouragement, said Katherine Alaimo, an assistant professor at Michigan State University.

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• DISCLOSURE RULES: The Department of Labor has released a final regulation that allows the agency to assess civil penalties against plan sponsors who fail to disclose certain documents to participants and others as required under ERISA and the Pension Protection Act. These documents include disclosures on funding-based limits, certain forms of distributions, financial reports and participants’ rights and obligations under automatic-contribution arrangements.