The Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 may represent “an unprecedented level of activism by the federal government” in executive compensation, according to Littler, a national law firm.

One provision of the new law prohibits institutions that benefit from government aid from providing certain types of compensation to certain executives. Another provision uses the Internal Revenue Code to prohibit deductions by these institutions and to tax their employees in the event certain compensation practices are not followed. The Littler analysts say that the legislation is significant because the federal government has rarely strayed into the arena of directly regulating what types or levels of compensation may be paid, as opposed to regulating compensation by imposing tax sanctions or penalties.

According to Littler, since the penalties apply only to financial institutions that are assisted by the government under the bailout plan, the lead decision makers of a troubled financial institution may be tempted to consent to an acquisition or investment by private investors that is less favorable to shareholders than a transaction that includes federal assistance.

Hawaii employers who fall under both the Hawaii Family Leave Law and the Family and Medical Leave Act should make sure that their policies conform to recent legislative changes. Employers who have 100 or more employees may no longer require the exhaustion of paid leave before unpaid leave commences if the employee is taking leave under the HFLL. HEC members can view a sample policy annotated with comments and options for the pertinent changes.

More than three-quarters of chief information officers reported that their company has either installed content-filtering or blocking software, instituted policies that detail acceptable web browsing, or done a combination of both, according to a recent national survey sponsored by Robert Half Technology. The most common reasons for having a policy limiting employee web browsing: to prevent employees from accessing inappropriate content at work; to prevent virus attacks, malware installation, etc.; and to keep employees from wasting time at work. See Robert Half Technology for survey details.

The Federal Trade Commission recently published rules clarifying the CAN-SPAM Act (the Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act of 2003). According to Pepper Hamilton LLP, non-profits should note that the FTC rejected excluding unincorporated nonprofit associations from coverage of the regulations.

CAN-SPAM imposed requirements on the use of commercial email messages, and gave civil and criminal enforcement authorities tools to combat commercial email that is unwanted by the recipient and/or deceptive, including allowing state attorneys general to enforce its civil provisions, and creating a private right of action for providers of Internet access service.

The FTC says “when nonprofit organizations send emails the primary purpose of which is the advertisement or promotion of a commercial product or service, recipients are entitled to the Act’s protections.” These include: (1) clear and conspicuous identification that the message is an advertisement or solicitation; (2) clear and conspicuous notice of the opportunity to decline to receive further commercial email messages from the sender; and (3) a valid physical postal address of the sender.

Employees who are anxious about their futures during a challenging economic time can adversely affect a company’s profitability by delivering poor customer service, being less intellectually engaged in their jobs, and making plans to leave, according to Sirota Survey Intelligence research.

Sirota advises companies to formulate a resiliency strategy to prepare employees for hard times by: building a “partnership culture”; creating, communicating, and then exhausting “rings of defense” before downsizing; focusing on the local behavior of immediate supervisors and managers; paying more attention to high-potential employees, who are most likely to leave during difficult times; creating ways for all employees to contribute to the company’s efficiency and effectiveness goals; encouraging employees to assist with possible solutions; and performing periodic employee assessments.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has launched an online site aimed at helping businesses and employers to “bring their green to work.” The site contains tips and information for executives, building managers, and small businesses to save energy. There is also a guidebook for small businesses to take advantage of the benefits of energy efficiencies.

Although most organizations recognize that trust is an important consideration in their company’s success, many employees don’t feel it is being nurtured internally, and the main culprit appears to be top management, according to a recent study by the Institute for Corporate Productivity.

The Institute finds that one out of every five respondents in its study does not feel his or her organization engenders trust; another 40 percent think trust is nurtured only to a moderate extent. When segmented between low- and high-performing companies, 40 percent of low-performing companies feel their organizations do not nurture trust, while only 16 percent of respondents from high-performing companies feel the same, the Institute reports.

According to the study findings, almost a quarter of the responding organizations said their senior management team’s credibility is lower than it was two years ago. That number rises to almost 30 percent in companies with more than 10,000 employees. The Institute says that a big part of management’s falling credibility is the failure of senior leaders to deal with low-performing individuals or teams, with 56 percent of companies polled citing it as their top concern when it comes to building trust. Forty-six percent pointed to management’s “iffy track record” regarding trust issues, and 45 percent reported a feeling of “individual powerlessness” to effect change in their companies.

Global executives are not monitoring areas of Human Resources risk with the same scrutiny as other traditional risk issues, leaving them open to severe financial and reputational consequences, says a new report by Ernst & Young LLP.

According to Ernst & Young, risks in the HR arena extend beyond what many would consider the responsibilities of the HR department: examples include insufficient training and development programs for employees, pay and performance alignment issues as well as weaknesses in managing vendor relations (such as relationships with recruiting agencies or healthcare assistance hotlines), among others.

The report takes an in-depth look at HR risks in terms of where they reside, their impact on an organization, how they should be approached and their role in business development. It is based on the results of a survey conducted among global finance, HR and risk executives from Fortune 1000 companies.

For businesses or employers who have had the Social Security numbers of employees or customers compromised by theft, the Federal Trade Commission offers a model letter to notify the potential victims. The FTC also advises that when a compromise of personal information could result in harm to a person or business, the police department should be called immediately. “The sooner law enforcement learns about the theft, the more effective they can be. If your local police are not familiar with investigating information compromises, contact the local office of the FBI or the U.S. Secret Service. For incidents involving mail theft, contact the U.S. Postal Inspection Service,” the FTC says.

The last few years, companies have seen “tremendous growth” in selective outsourcing of their Human Resources technology and functions, says global consulting firm Watson Wyatt.

The HR function most likely to be outsourced now is in defined contribution retirement administration (75 percent of surveyed companies currently do so), followed by health and welfare programs (52 percent), and pension administration (50 percent). Only 9 percent of companies outsource recruiting, and 4 percent outsource performance management.

One in three workers have accepted or left a job due to the condition of the office building or building amenities, says a recently released study by Blumberg Office Properties.

The study finds that the single biggest office worker complaint concerns extreme temperatures, followed by messy restrooms, outdated décor, rodents/insects, leaky ceilings and persistent odors. An overwhelming majority (78 percent) of office workers say the overall condition of their office affects how they view their employer; more than 69 percent say the condition of their office building affects their productivity and motivation, either positively (49 percent) or negatively (20 percent).

The two amenities most desired by workers in their building were reported to be subsidized cafeterias/restaurants and covered parking.

Nearly three out of four senior executives in a nationwide survey by Grant Thornton LLP believe that the government should regulate companies for their impact on the environment, and 56 percent believe that the government should regulate companies for their effect on human rights and labor practices. Most business leaders think that there will be additional government regulation, especially in the environmental arena, within the next five years. “Business leaders expect regulation, and they see it as one way to level the playing field,” says Grant Thornton spokesman Jim Maurer. “Nevertheless, they don’t want regulation to be in the form of a government ‘backlash.’ They want to be sitting at the table deciding what the parameters of that regulation should be.”

Companies that increase employee engagement levels can rightfully expect to improve their subsequent financial performance, says the latest WorkAsia research study by Watson Wyatt Worldwide. Engaged employees understand the organization’s business goals, the steps required to achieve those goals and how their contributions drive results, according to the study. The top three drivers of engagement identified by the study are customer focus, compensation and benefits, and communication—these drivers are “remarkably consistent within the Asia-Pacific region,” Watson Wyatt says.

Despite another year filled with lessons learned from tornadoes, floods and fires, 30 percent of businesses across the country are still not prepared for the worst-case scenario, according to AT&T's annual study on business continuity and disaster recovery preparedness for U.S. businesses in the private sector. Among the survey findings: fifteen percent believe that their systems currently in place are sufficient; 14 percent believe that the probability of a disaster causing business disruption is small, and 13 percent believe that the probability of a major disaster is small. The survey authors say this suggests that businesses may have a false sense of security. They also state that businesses are not heeding government warnings; of businesses hit by a disaster, only 41 percent take action when the federal or state government issues an alert. This is compared with an even lower figure of 33 percent for those companies that have not been affected before. 2007 AT&T Business Continuity Study.