Celebrate Worldwide, Come On
What’s the most common holiday celebrated worldwide? Survey says, New Year’s Day. Shown in infographic form on Mercer.com, ringing in the New Year was celebrated by 60 out of the 63 countries that were analyzed.
Author: Elaine Quayle
Hey Applicants—Orange Is Not the New Black
There has been a lot written about how job applicants’ attire can affect employers’ first impression of the candidate. For example, one study reported that 80 percent of hiring managers reported that shoes are “extremely important” to one’s interview appearance. Apart from shoes, there are a whole host of general no-no’s, like appearing messy or baring […]
Would You Take a Bullet for Your Boss?
A recent online survey of over 1,100 employees in the United Kingdom asked “Would you take a bullet for your boss?” Over 70 percent of respondents answered “No.” The survey was conducted for the website Bodyguard Services, and David Simmons, creator of the website, is not surprised that employees would not put themselves between a […]
Do Your Employees Know How to Stay Safe in Cold Conditions?
The material in this issue is adapted from BLR®’s audio PowerPoint® presentation on “Working in Cold Conditions.” One effective way to begin training sessions is to impress upon trainees why this particular training topic is so serious. Here’s some information about the dangers of working in the cold to give your trainees: Hypothermia is a […]
Assistants, Team Leaders, and Supervisors— Exempt or Not?
In yesterday’s Advisor,we learned exemption status of many specific jobs. Today, the tricky status of executive assistants, team leaders, and supervisors who perform nonexempt duties, plus we introduce the all-things-HR website, HR.BLR.com. Supervisors Who Perform Concurrent Duties Supervisors who perform both exempt and nonexempt work may still qualify as exempt employees under the law. For […]
IRS Standard Mileage Rates Drop a Half-cent
Employers whose employees use their own vehicles business can now adjust their reimbursement forms and procedures for 2014, since the IRS released the standard mileage rates for the year in Notice 2013-80 on Dec. 6. The IRS also adjusted the reimbursement rate for miles driven for medical purposes or a relocation, also by half a […]
Train New Hires to Reduce Their Number of Injuries
According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), 40 percent of injured employees have been on the job less than a year. Farmers Insurance Group says that more than half of new workers injured were employed for less than a month, and one of every eight injuries occurred on the first day of work. […]
Four T’s for Dealing with That ‘Tough Nut to Crack’
With difficult, loud people, ask, Why is he or she so difficult? Maybe my thought is that this person is insecure, so I change my behavior, things change for the better, and the other person takes the credit. But there’s the beginning of a relationship. Four Ts of Crucial Connections To work on difficult relationships, […]
Who’s Exempt—Vets? Chefs? Nurses? Police?
Wage and hour is supposed to be simple, but it just refuses to be easy. Lots of jobs fall into that gray area between exempt and nonexempt. For clarification on specific jobs, we turned to BLR’s Wage & Hour Self-Audit Guide®. Athletic Trainers Athletic trainers who have successfully completed 4 academic years of preprofessional and […]
TPA May Not Be Sued for MHPAEA Violations, Court Rules
A third-party claims administrator may not be sued for violating the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act because the law by its terms applies only to group health plans and their insurers, a federal district court ruled. Related ERISA claims against the TPA were also dismissed because the company was not the “plan administrator” […]