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Financial Strain Puts Retirement Out of Reach for Many American Workers

A recent survey by Willis Towers Watson (WTW) reveals a growing financial strain among U.S. workers, with 88% struggling to meet basic living costs. Nearly half of employees (46%) are extremely worried about essentials such as food, healthcare, housing, and transportation. As a result, 44% of employees report living paycheck to paycheck, and 59% say […]

Equal Pay

8th Circuit: ‘Economic Conditions’ Did Not Allow Unequal Pay

The U.S. 8th Circuit Court of Appeals (which covers Arkansas, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota) recently affirmed a jury’s decision that a furniture manufacturer was liable for sex-based wage discrimination under the Equal Pay Act (EPA) and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Case Study: Examining DEI One Year After SFFA v. Harvard/UNC

In a momentous decision overturning decades of precedents, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in SFFA v. Harvard/UNC last year that the use of race in college admissions violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Harvard) and the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment (UNC). While the decision was focused on higher […]

Underreporting of Sexual Harassment—Steps to Take

The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) recently published the results of a year-long research initiative: the SHRM Harassment-Free Workplace series. The first part of the series focused on the issue of sexual harassment in the workplace. In a previous post, we looked at some surprising data showing that 22 percent of non-management employee respondents […]

Leveraging Learning Pathways in Your L&D Program

In a previous post, we discussed the concept of learning pathways and sequential activities, often coming from multiple sources used to develop skills and behaviors. Learning pathways can be far more effective than a jumble of one-off training sessions due to the ability to create structure, organization, continuity, and escalating difficulty in the material within […]

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Is Your HR Team Listening Legally? Avoiding Compliance Risks in Call Monitoring 

HR professionals often implement call monitoring to support employee development, improve customer service, and ensure policy compliance. These are valid goals. But without a legal framework backing these efforts, the risk of unintentionally violating employee rights is high.  Even when intentions are good, execution still matters. Monitoring without a clear policy—or in ignorance of state […]

Faces of HR: Heidi Burton in Harmony with Growth at Stinson LLP

Heidi Burton isn’t your average HR leader. She’s a strategist, a sculptor of talent, and the mastermind behind Stinson LLP‘s thriving HR landscape. As chief HR officer, she works together with firm leadership to identify the needs that fuel growth. But her vision extends far beyond simply filling roles. Her mission? To cultivate a culture […]

Outsourcing HR

While HR is often seen as essential to business, some companies choose to outsource some HR functions. What factors should a business consider when deciding whether to outsource HR functions, and which functions are appropriate or best suited for outsourcing? Considerations When Deciding to Outsource Companies outsource business functions for a variety of reasons. Often, […]

Preventing independent contractors from becoming full-fledged employees

by Michael J. Spooner Businesses’ use of independent contractors is a growing trend in the American economy, and many observers believe the trend is here to stay. Independent contractors come in a variety of shapes and sizes. Well-known companies like Uber and Lyft rely almost exclusively on independent contractors, but there has been a significant […]