Practical HR Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
Your emergency response workers may someday have some of their tasks done by replacements, and they won’t mind a bit. And you won’t mind because these workers won’t be on your payroll. Researchers at North Carolina State University have been studying the movements of cockroaches, especially how they “wall follow”—find a break in a surface […]
Direct homecare and domestic service employees are currently not covered by the overtime and minimum wage requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), but this is going to change in 2015, says Susan Prince, JR, BLR Legal Editor. Happy Thanksgiving, Readers! Here’s Prince’s summary of the changes: Direct Care Workers Effective January 1, 2015, […]
Meeting the needs of overnight guests is big business in the United States. According to the American Hotel and Motel Association (AHMA), lodging is a $134 billion industry. In most U.S. states it is the first- second-, or third-largest employer. Overall, the sector employs about 1.8 million people. Employees who clean guest rooms, serve meals, […]
by Mark I. Schickman True or false: You cannot ask a job applicant if she has a disability and consider her answer during the hiring process. I would have said true―you can’t inquire about a disability. Rather, the question for every job applicant is the same: Can you perform the job’s essential tasks with or […]
A nurse’s inability to perform essential job functions, either with or without reasonable accommodations, prevented her disability discrimination claim from advancing to a jury trial and warranted summary judgment by the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota in Attiogbe-Tay v. SE Rolling Hills LLC, No. 12-1109 (D. Minn. Nov. 7, 2013). Comfort Attiogbe-Tay, […]
Let’s review some overall basics from yesterday’s Advisor: Who needs to be trained? OSHA’s Hazard Communication (HCS or HazCom) standard requires you to train employees to work safely with the hazardous chemicals in their work area when they are initially assigned to that area and whenever a new hazard is introduced. Why train workers in […]
In yesterday’s Advisor we learned important lessons from Bank of America’s $2 million back pay lawsuit. Today, more suits plus an introduction to the “50×50,” the unique guide that helps employers avoid lawsuits state by state by state. The San Francisco Giants baseball team paid $544,715 in back wages and liquidated damages to 74 employees […]
How Big Is the Number? Most HR managers underestimate the full costs of employee health (or lack thereof), says Ahlrichs. He refers to a study involving auto manufacturers and 171,250 employees. The study recorded basic medical costs for the measured period—the metric most wellness plans look at—at $509 million. But add pharmacy and the number […]
by Dan Oswald “Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt.” —Abraham Lincoln As a child, whenever my mouth started running in the wrong direction, my mother would say, “If you don’t have anything nice to say about someone, don’t say anything at all.” It’s not […]
Do your employees realize that not all hazardous chemicals are liquids or vapors, or that some otherwise harmless chemicals like nitrogen can become very hazardous indeed under certain conditions? Make sure your workers grasp the full range of possibilities that the term “hazardous chemicals” encompasses. Background on chemical safety Who needs to be trained? OSHA’s […]