Author: Stephen Bruce, PhD, PHR

Litigation Trends: More Regulation, More Investigations, (A Little) Less Litigation

Regulatory actions and internal investigations are climbing, according to the 2011 Fulbright & Jaworski Litigation Trends Survey; however, businesses faced slightly less litigation in 2011 than in 2010. More than one-third of respondents report there has been an increase in external regulatory inquiries directed at their companies, and more than one-quarter of respondents expect the […]

If EEOC Suggests Mediation, Should You Say ‘Yes”?

Special from the Advanced Employment Issues Symposium, Las Vegas. If the EEOC suggests that you mediate with your complaining employee, you should accept, says attorney Mark Schickman. He and his clients have had good experiences with it, he adds. Schickman is a partner at Freeland Cooper & Foreman LLP in San Francisco. His remarks came […]

HR’s Worst—and Potentially Most Expensive—Mistake

Special from the Advanced Employment Issues Symposium, Las Vegas Attorney experts from the Employers Counsel Network delivered hard-hitting answers to HRDA’s question about the most expensive mistake HR managers make. The remarks came at BLR’s Advanced Employment Issues Symposium, held November 17-18 in Las Vegas. Refused Accommodation Requests The number one mistake is untrained supervisors […]

The Top 5 Reasons Employers Should Offer an FSA

Flexible spending accounts (FSAs) are a common feature of employee benefit plans. But why would an employer offer an FSA plan to its employees? Well, it’s extra money in your workers’ pockets that you and your employees probably don’t want to leave lying on the IRS’ table. Karen Kirkpatrick, senior compliance adviser for Infinisource, explained […]

Nifty HHS Site Enables Small Employers to Shop for Health Insurance

Are you shopping around for health insurance for your small company? The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) just unveiled a computerized search engine for health insurance policies, so you can search plans in much the same way the Medicare Part D program enables elderly folks to search prescription drug plans (or the way many […]

7 Must Read Comp Articles

The Top 5 Compensation Habits to Kick Most comp managers have a few bad habits, but they’re hard to break, say experts Stacey Lunches and Breaks—’Little’ Violations, But Fines Add Up Quickly In yesterday’s Advisor, we covered two of the most common wage/hour violations; today, more violations. Pay Never Goes Down? Another Bad Habit In […]

Top 10 Articles with YOUR Comments

We asked for your comments this year — and you delivered. Here’s a list of the top 10 HR Daily Advisor articles you discussed this year. 5 Dumbest Management Concepts — Is HR One of Them? “It’s a truism that nothing is certain in this world except death, taxes and bad management. But why?” asks […]

6 Compliance issues for qualified retirement plans to check on by the end of 2011

With the year’s end fast approaching, employers that sponsor tax-qualified retirement plans should assess whether they may require amendments or administrative changes. To help with that process, Todd A. Solomon, a partner in the Employee Benefits Practice Group of McDermott Will & Emery’s Chicago office, and Brian J. Tiemann, also a member of that office, […]

New California Employment Laws: Get Prepared

Governor Jerry Brown recently vetoed four of the five bills the California Chamber of Commerce identified as “job killers.” The one job-killer bill signed into law is Assembly Bill 22, which severely restricts a prospective employer’s use of credit reports to screen applicants.