For example, a recent survey of tech workers found that 7% of IT pros never changed an administrative password.

A large percentage of techies also said passwords were rarely changed.

Another 8% have never changed the manufacturer’s default passwords on employees’ laptops and PCs — an easy “in” for hackers looking to break into company networks.

If IT doesn’t switch up your company’s passwords,  an employee that left the firm months — or even years — ago could still get into your systems.

So it’s a good idea to get together with IT and revisit standard operating systems — especially if your firm went through a round of layoffs recently.

One way to protect your firm from departing employees looking to grab something extra on their way out: have a thorough, uniform audit system in place to ensure workers don’t exit with your sensitive data.

Tax Day brought more than long post office lines — it also brought two more months of unemployment benefits to many people. And a new to-do list for Finance.

After allowing it to expire April 5, Congress passed yet another extension to the COBRA premium subsidy. Here’s the lowdown on The Continuing Extension Act of 2010.

Compared to the previous few extensions, this latest one is pretty straightforward:

• Employees who are involuntarily terminated through May 31 are now eligible for the COBRA subsidy.
• The extension applies retroactively to April 5 – the date the extension ran out last time.

That means your company could owe some checks to certain people. The feds estimate some 200,000 workers lost their jobs in the window between when the last extension ran out and the new one passed.

To stay in compliance, Benefits, Payroll and HR will need to seek out people who lost their coverage as of April 5. Look for anyone who paid the fully unsubsidized premium from April 5 to April 15, when the extension was passed.

Keep your eye out, too, for new model notices.

More than just layoffs count for coverage

Even if you haven’t had an official layoff, there may be folks who qualify for the COBRA subsidy. Some less dramatic (and quite common) cost-cutting measures count, too.

Here are some examples of what the Department of Labor considers to be “involuntary terminations”:

• a reduction of hours which knocks an employee out of eligibility for healthcare benefits
• temporary furloughs
• any layoff with the “right of recall”
• when an employee who is a reservist or a member of the National Guard is called to active duty
• the accepting of a voluntary severance offer with a package, and
• for unionized firms, an employer lockout (strikes don’t qualify).

This probably isn’t the last we’ve seen of these extensions – Congress is already bucking for another one to last the rest of the year. So it’s critical to be sure you’re covering everyone you should ASAP.

Check back here — we’ll keep you updated.

That’s what the 2009 National Business Ethics Survey revealed.

The survey compared companies that experienced cost-cutting tactics such as adjusted work schedules, layoffs, comp/benefit reductions, etc., with those that did not and found:

• 66% of employees that experienced comp/benefit reductions observed misconduct (compared to the 46% that didn’t)
• 63% of employees that experienced adjusted work schedules observed misconduct (compared to the 46% that didn’t)
• 62% of employees that experienced hiring freezes observed misconduct (compared to the 44% that didn’t), and
• 61% of employees that experienced layoffs observed misconduct (compared to the 47% that didn’t).

Of course, the word “misconduct” can mean a lot of things — and in this survey it does. Participants were asked about 27 specific behaviors, and “Yes” respondents said they observed at least one of the 27 behaviors within the previous year.

The complete survey can be found here.

Readers that have dealing with the cost-cutting tactics mentioned above, does this survey seem accurate? Has your company seem a bump in workplace misconduct? If so, share the behaviors you’ve seen in our Comments section.

Almost half (48%) of the workers who were laid off from their full-time job in the past three months have found new, full-time work — up from 41% in March.

That’s according to recent CareerBuilder survey of 921 employees who were laid off from full-time jobs within the last 12 months.

Another 3% of laid off workers found part-time work, which is down from 8%.

The CareerBuilder survey also looked at a variety of characteristics about the workers returning to work, including changes in pay, changes in industry and field, and relocation.

The chart below has a detailed breakdown:

With such a large pool of highly skilled employees out of work, experts suggest any companies that are in a position to add staff should do so now — before the economy rebounds and they have to compete with many other firms.

A recent Hay Group study found that 35% of companies have either:

• used furlough as a cost-cutting option during the recession, or
• have a furlough policy in place.

In addition, 50% of the companies using furloughs anticipate continuing to do so for 6-12 months.

The study also found furloughs have a minimal effect on employee morale. Example: On a scale of 1-10, companies that implemented the programs reported a score of 4.9 in terms of its effect on employee morale. That score equates to a “neutral” effect.

If you are considering implementing a furlough as a cost-cutting tactic, it’s important to be aware of potential legal snares.

Only one out of four employers plan to increase cost-cutting measures over the next 12 months. That’s a significant drop from February 2009, when 51% of employers planned more cost-cutting tactics over the next year.

These findings come from the April ‘09 update to an ongoing series of surveys by Watson Wyatt titled, “Effect of the Economic Crisis on HR Programs — Update: April 2009.”

Check out the chart below to see how your company’s future plans compare to the firms in this study.

Even though the majority of firms aren’t planning further salary reductions, salary freezes, etc., moving forward, the number of employers who made these changes between February and April 2009 spiked.

If your firm could use a few extra staffers, it may be a good idea to move forward with your hiring plans ASAP. Why? If we really have hit bottom in terms of layoffs, you’ll have a huge crop of applicants to choose from.

Due to layoffs, furloughs and hiring freezes, the recession has given more employees the chance to expand their daily tasks and take on more challenging work.

A recent survey from the staffing firm, Accountemps, found that 77% cited at least one opportunity that the recession has afforded them.

Check out the chart below for more details on the types of expanded roles A/P workers have taken on lately.

Although most employees crave more challenging work, it’s important not to go overboard and burn out staffers — especially if monetary rewards are not an option.

Formal recognition and low-cost gift cards for an “Employee of the Month” award can foster friendly competition and show employees you appreciate their hard work.

There are also plenty of other low-cost perks that work in lieu of monetary raises.

Staffers are looking to managers and execs to help them make sense of the current economic climate — and how it will directly affect them.

Here is how leadership coaches and consultants suggest you broach talking about the recession with your employees:

Get specific. Show employees how the daily reports of record losses and layoffs are directly affecting your company. This helps to give people some perspective on the situation.

Illustrate where you are, where you were and where you need to go. Using graphs and charts coupled with stories about what happened and what needs to happen is a great way to make this point.
A good idea: Create two charts — one outlining a continued decline and one a strong rebound — and solicit ideas from employees on how to bounce back faster.
Note: Don’t set up unrealistic expectations; growth can’t be guaranteed if customers just aren’t buying.

Listen, listen, listen. A huge part of being a leader is allowing employees to voice their frustrations, concerns and ideas for improvement. On top of helping to build camaraderie and bolster morale, venting sessions may actually spur some good ideas.

In fact, the number of companies planning layoffs has dropped by 10%, according to a recent Watson Wyatt survey.

Where are companies looking to cut back now? The Wyatt study puts travel at the top of the list.

Other areas where companies seem to be scaling back more include hiring, salaries and raises, scheduling shorter work weeks and the 401(k) match.

Check out the chart below for the actual percentages of what companies are cutting.

If your staffers are having a difficult time swallowing salary freezes, it may be a good idea to share these findings with them.

After El Paso County clerk Bob Balink was forced to lay off 19 staffers, he came up with a way to pick up the slack: He stopped answering the phones.

Balink (of course) hasn’t answered phone calls about the situation, but two other offices in the Colorado town are seeing red. Balink changed the voice message for all incoming calls to refer people to the county assessor’s and treasurer’s phone lines.

Aside from complaining about the additional phone calls these two offices have to handle, they’re also quick to point out the clerk’s office needs a reliable phone line: Some residents don’t have steady Internet access and can’t drive to the clerk’s office to see someone in person.