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.

$88 Million in Bonuses!

How do you show employees that you are thankful for their hard work? How about handing out $88 million in bonuses! Alaska Air Group paid annual bonuses totaling nearly a month’s pay to nearly 13,000 employees for exceeding the company’s 2012 operational and financial goals. The bonus of about 8 percent of annual pay is […]

Are Your PowerPoint® Presentations Designed for Effective Training?

For example, there’s a tendency among presenters to include too many bullet points in each slide and to add charts and graphs from written reports without converting them to a more easily understood format for the PowerPoint presentation. “A lot of presenters try to cram as much information as they can onto one slide and […]

Designation of FMLA–First Place Employers Fail?

The list of employers’ FMLA obligations is long and the pitfalls are many. One of the earliest places to make a mistake is in the supposedly simple act of designating the leave as FMLA-qualifying. For help, we turned to the “FMLA Bible.” When the employer has enough information to determine whether the leave is being […]

Court Questions Horton Decision in Light of D.C. Circuit Ruling

Properly executed arbitration agreements can prohibit employees from bringing Fair Labor Standards Act collective actions in some federal courts. This is despite a National Labor Relations Board decision holding that mandatory arbitration for employment disputes violates the National Labor Relations Act, a federal district court has ruled. In doing so, the court joined other courts […]

Employees Must Be Able to do Essential Job Functions, Even if Rarely Performed

A job function can be “essential” for Americans with Disabilities Act purposes even if it is rarely performed, recent case law illustrates. To qualify for ADA’s job protections, employees must be able to perform all of their job’s essential functions, with or without a reasonable accommodation. “Essential functions” are defined as the fundamental job duties […]

Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act passes

The Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act passed its last congressional hurdle February 28 when the House voted 286-138 in favor of the Senate-approved version of the bill. President Barack Obama has promised to sign the measure. The original Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) passed in 1994. The most recent version expired in October 2011, and […]

Benefits and Perks for 2013–What’s Really Happening?

Time to think about recruiting and retention again. And that means thinking total rewards. What’s happening with benefits and perks in 2013? What are your competitors up to? Help us find out! Please participate in our brief survey—sponsored by Aflac—and see how the perks you offer stack up against those of other successful companies. We’ll […]

Tennessee House passes guns-in-cars bill

Update: On March 14, 2013, Governor Bill Haslam signed SB 0142, which allows person with a valid handgun carry permit to transport and store a firearm or firearm ammunition in the permit holder’s privately-owned motor vehicle in public or private parking areas under certain conditions.  by Kara Shea and Sara Anne Quinn On Thursday, the […]

4 Factors for Effective Safety Training

The “Trainer’s Corner” experts in our sister publication, OSHA Compliance Advisor, suggests that, to teach adult trainees, four factors are key: Motivation. Like a door, the mind has to be opened before any new information can enter. The key to getting it open, say our experts, is relevance. What you’re learning about has to be […]