Usually, employers get zapped when employees sue, but that isn’t always so. Sometimes the union that represents employees gets slapped with a huge penalty, too—especially if it neglected to look out for workers’ interests.

Tough times call for tough measures. To cope with the effects of the state’s $1.2 billion budget shortfall on its pension obligations, Gov. Jon Corzine has suggested a time-honored, if not terribly innovative, remedy: an IOU.

Former state Sen. Wayne Bryant, once one of New Jersey’s most powerful politicians, was convicted of bribery and pension fraud for taking state jobs for which he did no work and steering state business to cronies in return.

Employer retirement plans suffered huge losses in 2008, and employers would face even more burdens if they had to comply with new, stricter funding rules passed under the Pension Protection Act of 2006. For that reason, Congress last month voted to ease those pension-funding rules ...

There’s no doubt Generation Y will fundamentally change corporate America. It’s already started. Managing Gen Y is a hot topic among consultants, HR executives and talent management professionals. For a Gen Y’er like me, this is great news. We’re primed to change the workplace for the better. Here’s how we’ll do it.

A cynic might say a 4% average earnings decline isn’t enough, but at least the highest-paid executives in America’s publicly traded corporations are feeling some of the pain of the financial meltdown.

One piece of reassuring economic news for North Carolina state workers: The pension kitty is fully funded and continues to outperform other government pension funds, despite a bleak economic year.

Don’t think that employees who take their retirement benefits in a lump sum can’t sue for alleged fiduciary breaches. A recent federal appeals court decision says although retirees are not technically employees anymore, they still have standing to sue ...

New Jersey investment director William Clark said the state pension board is considering a lawsuit against Lehman Brothers. The state bought approximately $180 million of Lehman stock in June, only to sell it at a loss of about $100 million ...

Donald Snyder, former director of the Illinois Department of Corrections (IDOC), forfeited his right to pension benefits when he was convicted of engaging in “a scheme to defraud the people of the state of Illinois,” Attorney General Lisa Madigan said.

Gregory Lockhart, owner of Laser Saver Inc., a printer cartridge remanufacturer in Columbus, has pleaded guilty to willful failure to file financial reports for the company’s 401(k) plan with the U.S. Department of Labor.

As the impact of the global economic crisis takes hold, a quarter of U.S. employers expect to make layoffs in the next 12 months—if they haven’t already done so. However, most companies are focusing on increased employee communication and smaller cost-saving measures.

Gov. Jon Corzine signed into law a new benefits package for state employees that raised the retirement age from 60 to 62 and increased the minimum salary workers must earn before being eligible for pension benefits. Now state government employees must earn at least $7,500 per year to qualify for a pension. The previous minimum was $500.

Companies that self-administer their ERISA benefits plans, take note: Because your benefits decisions carry an implied conflict of interest (since rejecting a request for benefits such as retirement or payment of a medical bill means spending fewer company assets), courts expect your decisions to be transparent and based on good documentation.

New research shows that more workers of retirement age are staying in their current jobs or returning to work, in part because of the sinking economy and dwindling nest eggs. Many of these older employees aren’t seeking full-time return at their past pay rates. They’re hunting for “bridge jobs.”