Category: HR Management & Compliance

There are dozens of details to take care of in the day-to-day operation of your department and your company. We give you case studies, news updates, best practices and training tips that keep your organization fully in compliance with ever-changing employment law, and you fully aware of emerging HR trends.

A Way to Keep Up with Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) Changes

FMLA, already a complex law, may soon get more so. Here’s a program that explains the law now and is designed to keep you informed about how it may differ in the future. As yesterday’s Advisor story on the burgeoning “father-friendly workplace” movement illustrated, the pressure on business to allow employees greater work/life balance is […]

Religion Bias: Big Verdict for Worker Fired over Head Scarf

A jury in Phoenix has awarded $287,640—including $250,000 in punitive damages—in a religious discrimination suit against Alamo Car Rental brought by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). The EEOC charged Alamo with post-9/11 backlash discrimination on the basis of religion when it fired a Somali customer sales representative in December 2001 for refusing to […]

Pay Discrimination: Congress Responds to Supreme Court’s Ruling

Recently, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that employees who complain of pay discrimination under Title VII, the federal antibias law, must file a claim with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) within 180 days of the discriminatory pay-setting decision, rather than within 180 days of the employee’s last paycheck. This decision was good news for […]

A Father’s Day Question: Do Workplaces Need to Be More Father-Friendly?

Fatherhood advocates maintain that widening work/life balance programs to address more of fathers’ needs has payback for both families and employers. This Sunday is Father’s Day. It’s a time when the nation celebrates the contribution that fathers make to the future through the way they raise their children. That contribution is enormous, says the National […]

Employment Law Tip: Preventing Heat Illness

In many parts of California, the temperatures are heating up, which means it’s a good time to take a look at your workplace practices to make sure employees who work under the summer sun are safe—and that you’re complying with Cal/OSHA’s heat illness regulation.

Health and Safety: New Pandemic Flu Guidance for Healthcare Workers

The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has unveiled new guidance for healthcare workers and their employers on preparing for and responding to a pandemic flu, such as the avian influenza. Avian influenza—also known as bird flu—is caused by a virus that attacks wild birds and domestic poultry. A dangerous strain is rapidly infecting […]

Age Discrimination: Sprint Nextel to Pay $57 Million in Layoff Case

Wireless firm Sprint Nextel has agreed to shell out $57 million to settle a class action lawsuit charging the company with age discrimination in connection with layoffs. The employees charged that Sprint violated the federal age discrimination law by moving older employees into positions that were then eliminated during corporate downsizing. The settlement covers approximately […]

The Afternoon Nap: A Wake-Up Call for Business?

Studies show that a short nap during the workday may improve both health and productivity. What lesson do Winston Churchill, John F. Kennedy, Napoleon, and Al Kirschbaum all have for business? That a short “power nap” in the afternoon helps you achieve. Since you probably already know about the world leaders mentioned, let’s take Al […]

Stricter Child Labor Laws Proposed

The U.S. Department of Labor has proposed big changes to the child labor regulations under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act. The DOL’s proposed rules would expand the list of jobs considered to be “particularly hazardous”—and off-limits—for 16- and 17-year-olds (and younger workers) to include working at poultry slaughtering plants, riding as passengers on forklifts, […]

The Smarter Way to Write HR Policies

For issues such as discrimination … and virtually anything else that’s compliance-related … leave the HR policy writing to the experts. If you read yesterday’s Advisor article on “unconscious discrimination,” it may have raised the same question in your mind as it did in ours. Assuming that recent social research is correct—that managers of good […]