The regulations covering FMLA are extensive. For employers it’s critical that the staff tasked with administering FMLA understand their responsibilities. There are features of FMLA that are easier to negotiate, such as duration and what forms to use. On the other hand, there are elements of FMLA law that can often lead to misunderstandings and missteps, landing businesses in hot water due to noncompliance. One area that is often misinterpreted are the rules applied to key employees. Below are some of the misconceptions and important distinctions in managing leave for key employees.

Cornerstones is working to ensure children in our community are prepared for the 2015-16 academic year. A concerning number of families in our neighborhoods are unable to afford backpacks, school supplies, or other essential items to help a child be fully prepared to start school. Each year, Cornerstones and their partner, Kids R First, equip thousands of K-12 children in the Reston-Herndon area (Cornerstones’ clients, as well as other local students who receive free or reduced cost school meals) with brand-new backpacks.Nearly 3,000 backpacks are needed for this year’s drive. How Can You Help? It takes a few simple steps: 1) Register here to pledge the number of backpacks you plan to donate. 2) Purchase new backpacks (no wheels or corporate logos, please): High School Size 20″ H × 14″ W × 7″ D (the age where our need is greatest) Junior High Size 18″ H × 13″ W × 6″ D Elementary Age Size 16″ H × 12″ W × 5″ D You can purchase backpacks online with free shipping to Cornerstones – visit Amazon or KitsforKidz! 3) Deliver the backpacks to Cornerstones Administrative Office at: 11150 Sunset Hills Road, Suite 210, Reston, Va. August 10th – 14th (Monday – Friday); 9:00 am – 5:00 pm

Yesterday morning (June 30th, 2015) news hit the wire that the Department of Labor (DOL) has officially released changes to the overtime exemption as it relates to the classification of employees under the Fair Labor Standards Act. Back in March, here at Helios we blogged about the (at the time proposed) changes to the regulation with a call to action:

"In your opinion, what does the HR department do?” Is one of the first questions we ask during stakeholder interviews when conducting HR audits. Business leaders come to Helios HR for a variety of reasons: when they are establishing HR for the first time, believe they may need a change in their HR department, or after they've experienced rapid growth. With HR audits, we look at the effectiveness of the HR department including best practices and compliance.

Successful business strategy requires the support of an effective and productive workforce. Employers engaged in creating a motivated workforce will make significant efforts to ensure hiring decisions contribute positively to the team atmosphere. Even with the best of efforts, there will be times when personality conflicts arise.

We all want to ensure we hire the best candidate to fill our open positions. In doing so, we try to gather all of the pertinent information on each candidate in order to make an informed, sound decision. With that said, employers need to be proactive in regularly reviewing their background screening process so it is compliant with the latest federal and state regulations. One growing area for conducting background checks is social media. Employers have indicated social networks help find evidence of unprofessional behavior, such as complaints about previous employers or discussions of drug use. Some employers go as far as requiring candidates to disclose their usernames, passwords, and other credentials providing employer access to their social network accounts. There are several existing federal laws, such as Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Stored Communications Act, and the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, may protect workers against discrimination and privacy violations related to social media.