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Ask the Expert: What Time Is Considered Compensable?

Question: What’s considered compensable time during the onboarding process under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)—for example, time completing paperwork before the start date, as well as time reviewing policies and procedures and completing training? Answer: Under the FLSA, employees must be compensated for all working time. Even if the employer didn’t specifically request that […]

The FTC Non-Compete Ban: A Shift Toward Healthier Leadership and Work Culture

For 20 years, I sat in the seat that most managers feared: I was the person on the other end of the call recruiting away their best performers. It was easier than you would think, and that was even before the FTC banned non-competes from employment offers. In a survey conducted by the U.S. Government Accountability Office, […]

Faces of HR: How Klinton Miyao is Building a Better Workplace

Klinton Miyao’s journey is both personal and inspiring. During WWII, Miyao’s family was interned as part of the Japanese American internment, a history that instilled in him a profound sense of justice and resilience. Starting his career in the food service and retail industries, he quickly learned the value of hard work and the importance […]

U.S. Supreme Court Building

The Supreme Court and Chevron: Five Fast Facts for Employers

We have been monitoring and awaiting the Supreme Court’s ruling on (what is known as) the Chevron doctrine. You can read more about the doctrine here. On June 28, the Supreme Court issued its decision and overruled the doctrine, which had been in place for more than four decades. For a number of reasons, this decision has and […]

Case Study: Lights, Camera, Action… and Discovery Dispute

A TV host resigned because her employer didn’t respond when she complained about her cohost’s behavior. After her cohost was fired a few months later, she sued. During the pretrial fact-finding stage (discovery), the parties disagreed over what information they were required to exchange. Let’s take a look. Combustible Sydney Watson was the cohost of […]

What Are Personality Hires?

When there’s a perception that a particular employee was hired for something other than their directly applicable job skills, some kind of “hire” term is often applied to their situation. For example, the term “diversity hire” or “affirmative action” hire is often used pejoratively to refer to a woman or minority who is perceived to […]

No Action from Your Action Plans? 3 Signs Your Process Prohibits Change—And How to Fix It

It’s that time of year: the results of your annual employee engagement survey are in. After what feels like weeks of analyzing data and crafting a comprehensive 30-page report, you’re ready to share your findings and recommendations. Yet despite your best efforts, your action plan often ends up gathering dust, and your employees feel their […]

17 State Attorney Generals Sue to Stop EEOC’s Final PWFA Regulations

On April 25, 2024, attorneys general from 17 states filed a lawsuit in federal court against the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) seeking to stop the implementation of the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act’s (PWFA) final regulations, which were published on April 19, 2024. The 17 states include Tennessee, Arkansas, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, […]

The Work Ethic Stigma Surrounding Gen Z

The perception among older members of society that younger members don’t work as hard is probably as old as time. But when such perceptions pervade the labor market, it can mean real—and often undeserved—impacts for younger workers. Specifically, there is a perception among many hiring managers that members of Generation Z simply don’t work as […]

Doubling Down on Care in Cost-Constrained Times

Human resource decision makers are facing an array of challenges as the strained U.S. macroenvironment increasingly weighs on the financial, physical, and mental health of today’s workforce. Consequently, HR departments must balance an important need to deliver heightened care for their employees while also managing potential cost constraints for their businesses. MetLife’s latest research found […]