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Michael and Holly, Sitting in a Tree

Litigation Value: A narrow escape from Michael burning the office down (twice) and, as always, plenty of lost productivity while the employees held a garage sale, played “Dallas” and helped Michael propose to Holly. Since last night’s “Office” was another rerun, I thought I would take this opportunity to talk about the “Garage Sale” episode. […]

Behavioral Interview Questions and Answers

Different types of interviews have different goals. The traditional interview seeks a broad knowledge of the candidate’s qualifications, while the behavioral interview looks at how he or she has performed on the job. There’s even a situational interview that presents scenarios that might be faced on the new job and asks how the candidate would […]

In Employment Law Cases, It’s Not Just about Smoking Gun Evidence

The worst-case scenario for any claim involving an employment-related decision is the “smoking gun” piece of evidence that destroys the case. It could be a notation in an interviewer’s notes that the applicant was “old” or a supervisor’s note indicating that the recently terminated employee “complained about safety issues a lot.” Because you generally have […]

Who Packs Your Parachutes?

By Dan Oswald President, M. Lee Smith Publishers Just My E-pinion If you’re a pilot or paratrooper or skydiver, you pretty much depend on the person who packs your parachute. In today’s e-pinion, M. Lee Smith Publishers LLC president Dan Oswald challenges you to ask, Who packs your parachutes? Charles Plumb was a Navy jet […]

What Atypical Benefits Are Your Competitors offering?

In yesterday’s Advisor, we presented non-healthcare survey results from M Lee Smith Publishers. Today, more survey results and an introduction to a special program just for smaller or even one-person HR departments. About 500 employers participate in the survey. Here are the detailed results. (Go here for yesterday’s survey results.) If your organization has a […]

Free Report for HR Managers: Essentials of Successful Harassment Prevention

The HR Daily Advisor® announced today the release of a free report for HR Managers, Essentials of Successful Harassment Prevention. This report will be available for a limited time in order to help HR professionals train their workforce on harassment prevention. “Sexual harassment problems devastate employees and organizations every day, but they can be prevented […]

Fire Somebody Today: And Other Surprising Tactics for Making Your Business a Success

Employment law attorney Mike Maslanka reviews Bob Pritchett’s Fire Somebody Today: And Other Surprising Tactics for Making Your Business a Success. In his book Fire Someone Today: And Other Surprising Tactics for Making Your Business a Success Bob Pritchett nails why managers are always afraid to fire someone: They fear admitting they made a mistake […]

Nashville Council Passes Antidiscrimination Ordinance

Nashville has joined more than 100 other localities across the nation that prohibit firms and contractors conducting business with the city from discriminating against employees on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. Similar protections were granted to city employees in 2009, and Metro Council members voted 21-15 on Tuesday night to extend the […]