HR on Mic

The One Big Beautiful Bill Act for Employers

Thu, 20 Nov 2025 12:00:00 -0500

The One Big Beautiful Bill Act was signed into law on July 4, 2025. It covers a range of employee benefits topics that will be of interest to employers, including tax-deductible overtime pay, pre-tax dependent care accounts, and tuition reimbursement. In this episode of Towne Benefits' HR on Mic, Corbin and Barbara provide helpful information about the bill and ways employers might use its provisions in their recruiting and retention efforts. This is Part One of a two-part series.

Improving a Toxic Workplace Culture

Thu, 10 Jul 2025 00:00:00 -0400

Company cultures can go bad over time. Today Corbin and Barbara discuss how to recognize a toxic culture and practical steps you can take to turn things around.

1095 Form Reporting - 2025 Changes

Thu, 13 Feb 2025 00:00:00 -0500

ICYMI - If you're responsible for your company's HR or payroll compliance functions, you will find that the IRS has given you a little gift in 2025 by lightening the 1095 reporting load. This episode explains the details of four important 1095 changes that may benefit you.

Happy New Year From HR on Mic

Wed, 15 Jan 2025 00:00:00 -0500

Happy New Year from Corbin and Barbara of HR on Mic. Time flies, and we are honored to serve as "co-pilots" to the People Managers who take care of our client companies. We thank you for reaching out to us, and we wish you success and happiness in 2025!

Fundamentals of FMLA

Wed, 06 Nov 2024 00:00:00 -0500

For many people managers, FMLA administration is anything but fun. In our latest HR on Mic episode, “Fundamentals of FMLA” Corbin and Barbara provide a wealth of information on things you need to know when you receive an employee’s request for FMLA. Which employees are covered? Can you require medical certification? Can FMLA leave be taken intermittently? Get the answers to these questions and many more in this episode.

Accommodations

Wed, 14 Aug 2024 00:00:00 -0400

Have you ever had an employee ask for some sort of accommodation for a medical or religious reason? “Accommodation” is a word that you may hear from time to time if you’re a people manager, and in this episode of HR on Mic, Corbin and Barbara explore three laws that require employers to make employee accommodations under certain circumstances.

Retaliation – Reducing Your Risk

Wed, 26 Jun 2024 08:00:00 -0400

If an HR on Mic episode on retaliation seems familiar, it's because Barbara and Corbin discussed it before. It’s that important. About 55% of the EEOC actions that employees file against employers include a retaliation component.

This newest retaliation episode provides more practical prevention guidelines and real-world examples. Whether you’re dealing with FMLA, the ADA, or any one of the many legally protected activities, don’t let retaliation complicate your life.

RxDC Reporting

Wed, 24 Apr 2024 09:00:00 -0400

If you feel like the list of employer reporting requirements continues to grow, you’re not imagining things. Recently, the new kid on the block was the RxDC Report. June 1, 2024 is the deadline for reporting the 2023 RxDC information to CMS.

What is the RxDC Report? RxDC stands for “prescription data collection.” The goals of the report include identifying the drivers of prescription drug and medical cost increases and providing more transparency to consumers when it comes to those costs. Employers and insurance carriers both have a role in filing the report.

In this episode of HR on Mic, Corbin and Barbara provide practical information and guidelines to employers about the RxDC Report.

State Paid Family and Medical Leave Laws

Wed, 06 Mar 2024 06:00:00 -0500

The federal Family and Medical Leave Act guarantees many workers access to unpaid, job-protected parental, family caregiver, personal medical, and military exigency leave. In the recent past, 13 states have enacted mandatory family leave programs, and in another 8 states, voluntary family and medical leave programs are now in effect or soon will be. Like the federal FMLA, these state laws, called Paid Family and Medical Leave (PFML) laws provide job protection. But as the name implies, unlike the FMLA, the state laws require at least partial pay for the PFML of qualified employees.

In this episode of HR on Mic, Corbin and Barbara discuss the recent trend of states passing these paid leave laws and how this impacts employers with employees working in different states.

Stay Interviews: Better Than Exit Interviews

Wed, 31 Jan 2024 08:00:00 -0500

In addition to helping prevent Exit Interviews, Stay Interviews are a simple tool that can help you retain your high-performing team members and, simultaneously give your company the advantage in attracting the employees you're competing for. In this episode of HR on Mic, Corbin Granger and Barbara Jennings share helpful how-to information on how a Stay Interview program can work for your company.

A New Year Message

Tue, 09 Jan 2024 14:00:00 -0500

Welcome to a new year! In this episode, Barbara and Corbin share their plans for HR on Mic in 2024.

Artificial Intelligence in the HR World

Wed, 20 Dec 2023 07:00:00 -0500

AI has made a big splash in the media lately - from business to politics to court cases. If you’re a people manager, you might be concerned about the potential impact of artificial intelligence on human resources management. In this episode of HR on Mic, Corbin and Barbara discuss some of the ways that AI will be a useful HR tool as well as aspects of AI that HR managers should be aware of before embarking on the AI journey.

Insurance Carriers' Actively at Work Requirements - When Helping Can Hurt

Wed, 29 Nov 2023 00:00:00 -0500

It’s a goal of most companies to be a good place to work. But what happens when an employer’s generosity comes back to bite them? In this episode of HR on Mic, Corbin and Barbara discuss health plan insurers’ Actively at Work requirements.

Happy Thanksgiving from HR on Mic!

Tue, 21 Nov 2023 11:00:00 -0500

FMLA, the ADA, and Workers Comp: What Happens When They Overlap?

Wed, 01 Nov 2023 08:00:00 -0400

What happens when the Family and Medical Leave Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and Workers Comp collide? Some people call this possibility the Bermuda Triangle of employment laws, and in this episode of HR on Mic, Corbin and Barbara offer several possible scenarios where they may overlap, and how to navigate a successful outcome.

Health Plan Qualifying Events

Wed, 11 Oct 2023 08:00:00 -0400

When it comes to health plan elections, employees can only make changes at certain times, or as a result of certain events. In this episode of HR on Mic, Corbin and Barbara review when and how an employee can change health plan elections.

Six Things You Might Not Know About FMLA

Wed, 20 Sep 2023 08:00:00 -0400

The realm of human resources is a world of initials. We would have a hard time getting through an eight-hour day without them – FLSA, ATS, ADA, COLA, DEI and a host of others, including our own field: HR. In this episode of HR on Mic, Corbin and Barbara share answers to some questions about FMLA, initials that are a source of confusion for many employers.

Affordable Care Act Employer Reporting: A Change Coming in 2024

Wed, 30 Aug 2023 08:00:00 -0400

The only thing in life that we can count on is change, and there is a change in the Affordable Care Act reporting requirements that will soon affect many employers. In this episode of HR on Mic, Corbin and Barbara help you prepare for the new reporting requirements.

Harassment & Retaliation Part II

Wed, 09 Aug 2023 08:00:00 -0400

Would a manager at your company intentionally retaliate against a company employee? Probably not. Yet over 50% of the EEOC charges brought against employers include a charge of retaliation. In this episode of HR on Mic, Corbin and Barbara explain common retaliation scenarios and how to avoid them.

Avoiding Harassment in the Workplace

Wed, 19 Jul 2023 08:00:00 -0400

“Harassment”, and its frequent companion “Retaliation” are words no people-manager ever wants to hear in the workplace. Most of the time when we hear the word harassment, we think about sexual harassment, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Employees can be illegally harassed for many different reasons including race, sex, religion, and national origin, along with other protected characteristics. In this episode of HR on Mic we want employers to know how to identify illegal harassment, how to respond to a claim of harassment, and how to prevent it.

Virginia Organ Donor Leave

Wed, 28 Jun 2023 09:00:00 -0400

Our first episode is timely, as Barbara and Corbin explore the details of Virginia's new organ donor leave law. The law takes effect on July 1, 2023 and mandates that employers with 50 or more employees provide unpaid leave from work for organ and bone marrow donation. Join to learn what we know right now!

Introducing HR on Mic

Wed, 21 Jun 2023 09:00:00 -0400

At Towne Benefits, we’re always considering new ways to enhance our client relationships. We are pleased and excited to introduce our latest tool in the HR and compliance toolkit: a podcast that provides helpful information on human resources and compliance topics in short, easy-to-listen-to segments.

In this first episode of HR on Mic, Corbin Granger and Barbara Jennings of our HR and Compliance team explain some of the topics they’ll cover on subsequent episodes, and how you will benefit from being a regular listener. They invite you to join them for easier HR and compliance administration!