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.

HR Managers Are Negotiating 24-7

If you’re in HR, you’re negotiating 24—7 says expert Douglas McCabe, PhD. You’re negotiating contracts, negotiating with peers, subordinates, and bosses. You’d better figure out how to do it right. Negotiators have high status in this country, McCabe says; you don’t put losers on your negotiating team. McCabe, who is professor of management at the […]

Best Practices for Dress Code Policies

Despite the fact that there are no federal laws outlining what employer dress code policies can and cannot do, there are still plenty of ways dress codes can get employers in legal trouble. Legal challenges to dress codes are often based on allegations of gender bias, religious bias, race/national origin bias, or disability bias. To […]

Good Boundaries to Make for Good PTO Policies

Yesterday’s Advisor featured tricky PTO policy questions from Attorney Katherine Marques. Today, we present her key success factors for PTO, plus we introduce the best way to find compliance violations—before the feds do. Marques, an associate in the New York office of Holland & Knight LLP, offered her PTO tips at a recent webinar sponsored […]

Exceptions to meal period requirements in California

In California, meal periods for employees must be at least 30 minutes by law, and the employee must be fully relieved of all work during that meal period. The meal period may be unpaid, and it has to be taken within the first 5 hours of the shift. These requirements apply for any workday in […]

The 11 Questions Your PTO Policy Must Answer

We all love PTO because it’s easier to administer than separate time-off policies, but there are many issues to be clarified before your program runs smoothly and avoids lawsuits, says Attorney Katherine Marques. Unfortunately, to complicate matters, many state laws (and some city laws) cover sick time and/or vacation time, so proceed with caution, says […]

Do Your PowerPoint® Slide Designs Enhance Learning?

“Since slides packed with long lists of bullet points result in “cognitive overload” for learners, Cliff Atkinson recommends that trainers design their presentations in a format that’s consistent with the way people think. Atkinson, author of Beyond Bullet Points (Microsoft 2005), says most learners can retain only three or four pieces of information at any […]

Obama administration delays implementation of ACA “play or pay” provision

In a surprising move yesterday, the Obama administration announced on the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s website that it is delaying the implementation of the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) employer responsibility provision. Now employers won’t have to worry about compliance with the provision, commonly referred to as the “play or pay” provision, until 2015. The […]

HR Policies–Who’s Got What? And How Do You Measure Up?

HR policies are always a moving target, and that’s true this year more than ever. What’s happening with policies out in the real world? What are your competitors up to? Help us find out! Please participate in our brief survey, and see how what you are doing stacks up against what other successful companies are […]

California employee misses rest break or meal period: What happens?

What are the consequences for a California employer if an employee misses meal periods or rest breaks? The primary consequence is that premium pay is now due. Premium pay is assessed at one hour of regular wages for each day in which there is a violation. In addition to the premium pay penalty, there are […]