As you sit down to write your cover letter, do you ever stop and think, “Who the heck is going to read this?” You may believe that just because employers get hundreds of resumes per job posting that they tend to skip the cover letter part. That is simply not true.One Size Doesn’t Fit AllYou’ve written this awesome cover letter and it’s taken you quite a long time to create your masterpiece. You’re tired and spent from all your hard work.

The Treasury Department and the IRS have issued new proposed regulations for employee benefit plans under Section 125 of the Internal Revenue Code. The plans, called "cafeteria plans," allow employees to make a choice between receiving taxable cash compensation or tax-free employee benefits, such as health care, dependent care, and other fringe benefits. The new proposed regulations generally preserve the rules of the existing proposed regulations, while adding clarifications relating to statutory changes and administrative guidance changes since the previous regulations were published.

Being surrounded by friends might just be the ticket to a more productive day at the office, according to recent research performed by the California-based temp agency, Accountemps. One hundred fifty senior executives from within the ranks of the Fortune 1000 as well as 519 full- or part-time workers were surveyed. Sixty-three percent of employees and 57 percent of executives agreed that becoming friends with co-workers has a positive effect on productivity.

Ninety-nine percent of financial executives polled at a professional conference are concerned about rising employee healthcare costs. Eighty one percent of the respondents said their employee healthcare costs have risen in the past year, from as little as 5 percent to more than 20 percent.While most of the executives said their organizations do not plan to reduce benefits, nearly a quarter indicated that employees would have to shoulder increased costs. Other tactics include offering high-deductible consumer driven plans and changing healthcare providers.

Gender stereotyping, one of the key barriers to women's advancement in corporate leadership, leaves women with limited, conflicting, and often unfavorable options no matter how they choose to lead, according to The Double-Bind Dilemma for Women in Leadership: Damned if You Do, Doomed if You Don't, a study released by Catalyst, a non-profit organization working to advance opportunities for women and business.

Gevity, which serves as a full-service human resources department for small and mid-sized businesses, has released its list of the top five hiring mistakes made by small businesses when recruiting and hiring employees. Developed from Cornell University/Gevity research and surveys of small business owners, the list is a handy tip sheet for recruiting and hiring top talent. Here are the top five hiring mistakes -- and how to avoid them:Offering candidates uncompetitive compensation.

An analysis from Hewitt Associates, a global human resources services company, indicates that initial HMO premium rates(1) will increase by approximately 14.1 percent in 2008 - the highest rate increase in four years. Despite the rise in rates, companies will focus more on improving employee health, less on employee cost shifting.As U.S.

New rules for nonqualified deferred compensation plans under Internal Revenue Code Sec. 409A went into effect on Jan. 1, 2005. Recently, the IRS issued final regulations to provide guidance on the rules. Grant Thornton LLP has developed a Quick Reference Guide to Complying with the Sec. 409A Deferred Compensation Plan Rules that provides seven suggested steps to help companies comply with the rules.

As temperatures begin to rise, so may unscheduled absences in the workplace. The Workforce Institute has announced the findings of a new survey conducted by Harris Interactive and sponsored by Kronos Incorporated. According to the "Summer Absenteeism" survey, an overwhelming 39 percent of employees working full time have called in sick to work to enjoy a day off during the summer vacation season. The survey of 1,077 U.S.