The Importance of Creating—and Following—Workplace Policies
Yesterday, guest blogger Drenna D. Shive, PHR, talked about the importance of training your managers to help prevent lawsuits. Today—why your policies are crucial.
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Are You Backing Into Back Safety Training?
The material in today’s Advisor is adapted from “Back Safety Training,” a session in BLR’s HR Library on TrainingToday. Strains and sprains are the leading cause of workplace injuries and illnesses, and the back and shoulders are the parts of the body most affected. Many of these injuries are part of a class of injuries […]
Performance Appraisals: Do’s and Don’ts from the Real World
Makris, senior counsel at Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman, and Rhoma Young of the HR consulting firm Rhoma Young & Associates offered tips for ensuring that performance appraisals are used legally and effectively. Their suggestions came in a recent BLR®/HR Hero® audio conference. From a legal perspective, performance appraisals are important because they can help defend […]
Best in Breed Is Out, Integration Is In
The “best in breed” approach to HR automation is out, and integration is in, says consultant Mollie Lombardi. Companies look for best practices, but take that with a grain of salt, she warns. Best practice for another company may not be best practice for your company. You have to find the right processes for your […]
Trash talk or abuse? NFL debates banning the N-word
In any other NFL offseason, with the hype over combine results all over the television and free agency in full swing, it’s likely many football fans might not notice the NFL Competition Committee meeting in the background. But this year, the committee is making news as it mulls over a controversial potential new rule that […]
Employee solicitation: Do you have any recourse?
By Sébastien Gobeil We have often reported on how Canadian courts enforce, or do not enforce, noncompete and nonsolicitation clauses. But those cases have focused on the solicitation of the former employer’s customers or clients. What happens when a former employee solicits your employees to leave, leading to a series of resignations? Do you have […]
Military downsizing presents opportunity, challenge for employers
A thread running through a succession of news stories is sending a clear message to employers: The military is shrinking its ranks and the pressure is on civilian employers to hire more veterans. U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel announced new downsizing plans for the nation’s armed forces in February, explaining that budget cuts are […]
Maintaining a religion-neutral workplace
by Charles S. Plumb About a year ago, a group of private citizens paid for a seven-foot-tall granite monument of the Ten Commandments and gained approval for it to be placed on the north end of the Oklahoma Capitol grounds. Not surprisingly, a satanic group then asked Oklahoma’s Capitol Preservation Commission for permission to erect […]
Satisfying your obligation to accommodate disabled employees
by Kara E. Shea Did you know the fastest rising category of claims filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is claims based on disability discrimination and/or failure to accommodate disabled employees? This isn’t surprising given that, under the expanded Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), virtually any nonminor/nontransitory impairment may be considered a qualifying […]
Wiccan what? Religious accommodations and sincerely held beliefs
by Steve Jones Q If an employee asks for time off for her religious beliefs, can I legally question her about her religion (e.g., what her religion is and why she needs off)? A Most likely, yes. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination based on religion. The Act requires employers […]