Author: Bob Brady

Big Help for the Small HR Department

HR departments as small as one face big challenges. Here’s a program especially designed to help them. The recent brouhaha in Washington over whether a raise in the minimum wage should include special tax breaks for small business brought up again, in our minds, the issue of the smaller HR department. In countless businesses, usually […]

Drugs & Alcohol: Do I Have to Interview an Applicant Who Takes Medical Marijuana?

One of our current employees has referred a friend for employment under our employee referral program, which rewards employees who refer applicants if we end up hiring them. The employee mentioned that the friend uses marijuana for medical purposes. I don’t really want to consider this person because we are a drug-free workplace, but I’m […]

Employee Leave: Update on SF Sick Leave Ordinance

On Feb. 5, 2007, San Francisco’s controversial paid sick leave law went into effect. Under the new law, all employees working in the City and County of San Francisco accrue paid sick leave at the rate of one hour for every 30 hours worked, up to a maximum of 72 hours (or 40 hours for […]

Wage and Hour: Loan Company to Pay Millions in Overtime Dispute

E-Loan Inc. has agreed to pay out up to $13.6 million to settle a wage and hour class action charging overtime and meal period violations with respect to approximately 500 mortgage loan consultants in the company’s Pleasanton and Dublin offices. Employees who worked in those locations from December 2001 through June 2006 are eligible to […]

Discrimination: OFCCP Reports Record Financial Recoveries

The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) has reported that in 2006, it recovered a record-breaking $51,525,235 million on behalf of a record 15,273 workers. The OFCCP enforces various federal employment discrimination laws with respect to government contractors. The 2006 figures represent a 14 percent increase over recoveries in 2005, and a 78 percent […]

An HR Professional’s 5 Biggest Mistakes

An HR consultant who used to be a line manager describes the services he needed most … and least … from his HR partners. In preparing Daily Advisor, we read a lot of material by outside HR consultants. It’s good stuff, but because most have always been HR professionals, their view is largely from one […]

6 Tips to Improve Workplace Communication

To better communicate with bosses, colleagues and customers, match your message to your audience, and don’t forget the nonverbal skills, says a new DVD plus book program. A recent Daily Advisor listed the ability to communicate effectively as one of the secrets to success in any organization. We discussed it in terms of reaching senior […]

Get a Seat at the Executive Table … and Know What to Do With It!

To win HR a place in senior management, career experts say learn the overall business … and express yourself in the language that senior executives speak. If there’s anything HR professionals have asked for again and again over the years, it’s that elusive “seat at the executive table.” Well, guess what? With more organizations realizing […]

Paid FMLA Leave: Our Readers Talk Back!

By BLR Founder and CEO Bob Brady Bob’s support of Family and Medical Act (FLMA) leave paid for by … somebody … generated a lot of heat … and several proposed solutions. Bob Brady is off covering a conference this week, so we thought we would give you a taste of the e-mails he’s received […]

Sexual Harassment: An Interactive Tool to Keep You Out of Trouble

An engaging program uses interactivity to help keep your employees from crossing that oh-so-important line into the danger zone. A recent Daily Advisor explained the concept of “preventive law,” which, like preventive medicine, seeks to avoid workplace legal trouble before it happens. There’s a lot of trouble to prevent. As the story noted, defending the […]