Author: Stephen Bruce, PhD, PHR

HR Departments in Flux—What Are Best Practice Companies Doing?

HR is changing and HR departments have to keep pace—HR’s taking on a greater role in strategy, HR’s outsourcing, HR’s on the move. What’s happening to HR departments out there in the real world? Let’s ferret out best practices. For years, BLR® has surveyed HR and compensation/benefits professionals to find trends in policy and practice. […]

Executives on Maternity Leave: Return Not Guaranteed by FMLA

Newly appointed Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer — who some pundits have called “the most powerful pregnant woman in America” — is an exceptional employee in more ways than one. Even if she had worked the prerequisite 12 months (or 1,250-plus hours) at Yahoo to qualify for FMLA leave, Mayer would not be guaranteed a return […]

C-Suite Doesn’t Care? You’re Talking About Comp the Wrong Way

Carroll talks of one CEO who was frustrated about compensation. He had his 12 top people that he wanted to compensate well, but he couldn’t seem to afford to do it. He thought that setting up a formal comp program would interfere with his ability to do what he wanted, but Carroll said to him, […]

Five More FMLA Abuse Killers

Yesterday’s Advisor offered the first 7 of attorney W. Melvin Haas’s tips for combating FMLA abuse. Today, the rest of his tips, plus an introduction to the book many call “the FMLA Bible.” IHaas is managing member at the Macon, Georgia office of Constangy, Brooks & Smith, LLC. [Go here for tips 1 to 7] […]

Employers, There’s a Right Way to Distribute MLR Rebates

Today was the final day for insurers to issue rebates for 2011 premiums (as required by health reform), so employers should know by now whether they got one. The next step employers face is passing the proper amount of the rebate on to employees. When rebates go to employers, the incentives favor applying the rebates to […]

Do Your Supervisors and Mangers Know How to Resolve Conflicts?

In today’s Advisor, we’re going to examine conflict resolution and why it’s so important for your personnel to be trained in this invaluable management skill. When supervisors and managers know how to resolve workplace conflicts effectively, they can save time and turn potentially destructive situations into positive, productive opportunities for growth and development within their […]

Exec Comp—What to Expect for the Rest of 2012

Fichthorn , vice president in the Philadelphia office of Hay Group, was joined in his presentation at a recent BLR/HRhero webinar by Martin Somelofske, a senior principal in Hay Group’s Metro New York office. Fichthorn suggests that the following trends will characterize executive compensation in the upcoming year: Continued government interest and involvement, specifically through […]