Archives

Retaliation by Compensation—Battleground for Comp Managers

“Retaliation lawsuits are among the easiest to prevent,” says attorney Jody Katz Pritikin, but retaliation is a common reaction by managers who are embarrassed or angered by an employee complaint, and that means managers have to be on the watch for it. Pritikin, who offered her tips at SHRM’s Employment Law and Legislative Conference, held […]

Mergers & Aggravations

Litigation Value: Whatever it is, David Wallace should pray that he’s not on the hook for it. My colleagues and I have written on this blog about all of the costly potential lawsuits the Scranton branch has spawned since Sabre acquired Dunder Mifflin. Let’s assume some of these incidents have become actual lawsuits alleging discrimination […]

Working Mother

Moms Know There’s More to a Job Than Just the Job

Do you have any moonlighters in your workforce? Maybe you have an accountant moonlighting as a van driver or facilities manager. Maybe you have a computer operator moonlighting as a CEO, or even a CEO moonlighting as a computer operator. Such pairings may not sound likely, but when you consider that working mothers perform one […]

Obama’s Same-sex Marriage Statement Doesn’t Change Employer Plans’ Status Quo

Employers likely will need to continue to pay close attention to how their individual states’ approach to same-sex marriage will affect their employee benefit plans, regardless of President Obama’s newly articulated support for it. The president on May 9 said that he supports same-sex marriage, but also that the states should be able to decide […]

N.C. Voters Nix Same-sex Marriage: Implications for Employers

Employers in North Carolina will not face the complications their counterparts in states where same-sex marriage is legal or recognized do, but local and municipal governments that provide domestic partner benefits may have to change their policies. Tar Heel State voters on May 8 approved an amendment to the state constitution that defines marriage as […]

Tricky Administrative Exemption Trips Up the Best

The Administrative Exemption: it’s where the greatest number of employers go wrong and no surprise, says attorney Susan G. Fentin—it’s the broadest and most ambiguous exemption of them all. In yesterday’s Advisor, Fentin helped us understand the huge dollar risks in mistaken exemption decisions. Today, how to determine if your employees meet the tricky administrative […]

Inconsistent Wage/Hour Laws Lead to Confusing Enforcement, Study Says

According to a recent study, uneven enforcement of the Fair Labor Standards Act — lax in some places and more stringent in others — leaves employers confused about the extent of their liability for wage and hour violations. The study, released by the Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Government, calls for more enforcement consistency to […]

Job Evaluation—Three Common (and Good) Methods

Strand, owner of consultancy HR Dynamics Inc., offered his comments on the three methods at a recent webinar hosted by BLR/HRhero. Ranking Method This is non-quantifiable and subjective, but is a basic simple approach, says Strand. You arrange all jobs in rank order of their relative duties, responsibilities, qualification requirements, that is, their “importance” to […]