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moonlighting

Resisting the Urge to Multitask

Multitasking is often viewed and held up as a positive for professionals. We see those who multitask as able to successfully juggle multiple important tasks at once and, importantly, handle them all effectively and efficiently. But many observers in fields from business management to human resources to medicine argue that we should have a much […]

Major Airlines Cutting Routes

Recent staffing shortages and route closures by major airlines are causing concern among travelers and businesses. Toward the end of the most intensive phases of the COVID-19 lockdown, the inconvenience (not to mention illness and death) of the pandemic seemed to be replaced by the inconveniences (not to mention significant business disruptions) caused by labor […]

cybersecurity

Unpermitted Internet Use at Work Can Be Catastrophic for Both Employees and Employers

In Texas, impersonating another person online is a crime under Tex. Penal Code § 33.07. A plethora of legal implications have developed in the labor and employment law context with the rise of social media and advertising sites such as Craigslist. Employers may not yet realize the impact such sites can have on their organizations, but the […]

‘I Got Fired . . . But I Still Want My Commissions’

Although it involves Texas law, a recent case illustrates the pitfalls an employer can face when former employees make claims for commissions or compensation after their employment has ended. It also offers suggestions on how employers with commissioned salespeople can avoid the same traps.

Tweet Goes Viral: Gets Communications Exec Fired

It took an airplane flight for a communication executive’s inappropriate tweet to go viral and get her into trouble with her employer. The (former) senior director of corporate communications of an Internet company was fired after sending an offensive tweet on her way to South Africa. By the time she landed, the Internet was up […]

Brevity Is the Soul of Wit

President Woodrow Wilson was once asked how long it took him to prepare his speeches, and his answer was quite telling. “That depends on the length of the speech,” said Wilson. “If it is a 10-minute speech, it takes me all of two weeks to prepare it; if it is a half-hour speech, it takes […]

Exec Rewards: Use Total Comp or Miss by a Mile

Base executive pay decisions on total direct compensation and you are likely to “miss the market by a mile,” says consultant Kurt Fichthorn. To understand the importance of a total remuneration perspective, look at this table that reflects information about your CEO’s compensation, says Fichthorn, vice president in the Philadelphia office of Hay Group. CEO […]

Self-funded Plans and TPAs Affected by Top Court’s Hobby Lobby Ruling

The U.S. Supreme Court ruling that “closely held” for-profit companies can — on religious grounds — opt out of a federal requirement to provide certain contraception coverage is rife with implications for self-insured and other employer-sponsored health plans. The ruling is unlikely to lead to a wide variety of religiously inspired opt-outs, benefits attorneys held, […]

Workplace Violence: Where Would I Hide?

By Susan Schoenfeld, JD, Senior Legal Editor I had only been working for the federal government for about 6 months in 1991 when former postal worker, Thomas McIlvane, walked into the U.S. Post Office in Royal Oak, Michigan, and shot and killed four supervisors. He also wounded five of his former coworkers before killing himself.