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How Do Your Training Programs Rate Against Other Companies?

Over 700 individuals participated in the April 2013 Training and Development Survey. Read on to see how the training programs your company offers stack up against those of other successful companies. Initial key highlights include: Top compliance training topics for employees are new hire orientation (79%), sexual harassment (75%), and discrimination (69%). For professional development […]

EEOC Sues Over Companies’ Use of Background Checks

Two large companies that rely on on background checks to screen new hires are being sued by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. It is not illegal for employers to refuse a job to an employee with a criminal background. But in one case the EEOC alleges that a BMW manufacturing facility in South Carolina […]

Changes coming to Indiana’s background check law

Provisions of Indiana’s new background check law, which limits the information criminal history providers may give to employers, go into effect July 1. Under the law, criminal history providers won’t be able to provide information related to the following: An infraction, arrest, or charge that didn’t result in a conviction; An expunged record; A record […]

Employee Handbooks: Are They Really Necessary?

Even though it isn’t a California or federal law requirement, many employers have an employee handbook or at least a few written company policies. Exactly where do those policies come from? The answer to that question is easy―the HR department. But where does HR get the policies that govern the company? The answer to that […]

Summer temperatures can turn up the heat on workplace dress and vacation policies

by Chelsea V. Brown As summer heats up, temperatures start to rise, anticipation for family vacations and summer holidays grows, and the spirit of summer can be felt throughout the workplace. As the arrival of summer becomes increasingly evident in cubicles and corner offices, employees can become relaxed about workplace rules and conduct. In some […]

GE Brightens Up Women’s Leadership Program

When GE execs wanted to brighten up their black-and-white training materials for their Leadership Practices Program for Women, they did so literally—with color. The program, administered by two women executives (who job share), seeks to address and provide insight into the unique concerns of talented, “high-potential” female employees. The facilitators, Nancy Schumann and Sandy Sullivan, […]

Accommodations Are a Pain, but Litigation Is a Bigger Pain

Reasonable accommodations are a pain and are subject to abuse, says Attorney Lawrence Postol, but litigation over the failure to provide accommodations, with a trial by jury, is a bigger pain and subject to greater abuse. Postol, who is a partner in the Washington, D.C., office of Seyfarth Shaw, LLP, offered his Americans with Disabilities […]

Reader’s Story: The Creepy Coworker

We recently ran an article about a survey on odd desk décor. Among examples were a live pig, a lava lamp, and paper dolls. One SBT reader wrote in about an employee who had his own weird way to personalize his workspace. Here’s the story: “We had an employee who was apparently granted a bit […]