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Certain religious employers get a reprieve from ACA’s contraceptive mandate from Supreme Court

On New Year’s Eve, just hours before the healthcare reform (also known as the Affordable Care Act or ACA) contraceptive mandate requirement was supposed to go into effect, Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor issued a stay and gave the federal government until Friday to respond to the Court. The stay applies to a limited group […]

Supervisory Sin 7: Making Wage/Hour Blunders

[Go here for sins 1 through 6.] Sin #7. Making wagehour blunders We’re out of overtime. Can you clock out and then set up for tomorrow? You’ll be working alongside our regular employees, but you new recruits are all independent contractors. Tracy, make sure you stay close to the phone during lunch. Sandy, keep your […]

Mental health parity regulations take effect January 13

The final regulations implementing the Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 will become effective January 13. The Act requires group health plans that offer mental health or substance use disorder benefits to ensure that those benefits are equivalent to the medical and surgical benefits offered by the […]

4 Common Employer Mistakes in EEOC Position Statements

Have you ever faced an EEOC investigation? What is the best course of action—hire a lawyer, or navigate the process in good faith on your own? Obviously the answer depends on the specifics of the situation, but you may be surprised to learn that sometimes handling it on your own can have a better outcome […]

Equip Trainers to Give Effective Environmental Training

The material in today’s Advisor comes from our sister publication, Environmental Daily Advisor®. In an ideal world, training will always be successful. There are ways that training can go wrong, however, and forewarned is forearmed. Here are several training pitfalls—and we give you ways to avoid them. There are several possible problems that can lead […]

4 More Sins Your Supervisors and Managers Are Guilty of

In yesterday’s Advisor, we featured the first six sins of supervisors. Today, sins 7 through 10, plus an introduction to the all-things-HR-in-one website, HR.BLR.com®.   [Go here for sins 1 through 6.] Sin #7. Not Knowing and Not Enforcing Policies We’re busy now. Talk to me about that harassment business next week. If you think […]

10 Sins of Well-Meaning Supervisors

Sin #1. Making Unlawful Preemployment Inquiries That’s an interesting accent you have. Where were you born? Do you have any children? If so, will you have any daycare problems? By the way, we’re all about diversity here. Inappropriate questions during interviews and other preemployment contacts are a primary source for claims of discrimination. The courts […]

How Does ACA Impact Employee Wellness Programs?

Did you know that the Affordable Care Act (ACA) contains provisions related to the implementation of employee wellness programs? The latest information– the final rule that appeared in the Federal Register – defined new parameters for employee wellness programs. It directs how they must be designed and administered to make sure they are equally available […]

Do Your Environmental Trainers Have Stage Fright?

Each trainer has different qualifications, experience, expertise, and methodology of training. Even trainers who are intimately familiar with a subject must properly prepare for the training session. The following guidelines are designed to review the basics of preparing trainers for learning sessions. Practice Makes Perfect Practice your presentation. The best instructors always do at least […]

HR’s New Year’s resolutions (or what your lawyer hopes they’ll be)

by Tracey B. Eberling What will 2014 bring? It’s hard to say. If you’ve been in HR very long, you know that employment law and workplace issues can be unpredictable. But HR professionals can take precautionary, commonsense steps to prevent small problems from spiraling out of control. Here are some resolutions that should help make […]