employment

The purpose of this article is to provide an overview of certain primary aspects of the New Hampshire workers’ compensation law and process. It is intended to be a summary for employers, adjusters and those that toil day in and day out in the fields of workers’ compensation claims.

Transitional Alternative Duty (TAD) is an often overlooked tool available to employers working to effectively manage Workers’ Compensation risks and costs. This article provides an outline of the New Hampshire Workers’ Compensation TAD statute, suggests reasons why it is beneficial for employers and concludes with a proposed strategy for employers who can utilize TAD to reduce Workers’ Compensation costs.

Recent rulings on sexual harassment cases have clarified the legal and ethical responsibilities of organizations and individuals with respect to sexual harassment in the workplace. This is a summary of how the law and organizational policy affect the responsibilities of management. The information is adapted from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s (EEOC) publication, Guidance on Vicarious Employer Liability for Unlawful Harassment by Supervisors, and is not meant to be a substitution for legal consultation.

The right of an employee to receive prompt and full payment of wages for hours worked has historically been considered a “sacred cow" that is protected by both federal and state statutes. There are a plethora of wage and hour rules that can be confusing and sometimes overwhelming. The New Hampshire Department of Labor (DOL) closely monitors and enforces New Hampshire’s state regulations. Failure to comply may result in severe consequences to your organization.

There is, perhaps, no area of risk management that is more technically complex than employment liability—and the exposure is exactly the same no matter what the size of the community. Legal and human resource professionals advise that sound policies and procedures be in place and properly implemented. These policies must be in compliance with a veritable alphabet soup of federal and state laws and administered in fairness and with consistency.

Section 125 of the Internal Revenue Code, initially implemented by Congress in 1978, allows employers to offer employees the choice between cash compensation and certain nontaxable (qualified) benefits. Premium contributions toward a qualified benefit are excludable from an employee’s gross income, thus allowing these expenses to be deducted prior to the calculation of Social Security or federal income tax responsibilities. Healthcare, vision care, dental care, group life and long-term disability coverage are considered qualified benefits for these purposes.