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Benefits of an Employee Stock Purchase Plan

Employee stock purchase plans (ESPPs) are company-sponsored programs that allow employees to purchase company stock at discounted rates. Typically, employees agree to have a certain percentage of their paychecks withheld each pay period and placed into a fund that is used to purchase company stock at a price discounted from the current market price on […]

5 Key Diversity and Inclusion Best Practices that Drive Behavior Change

By Meagan Aaron Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) are crucial for fostering an inclusive environment where all employees can thrive. But creating a truly inclusive workplace goes beyond policy – it’s about cultivating genuine behavior change. Human resources professionals can support this transformation by integrating DEI best practices into learning and development (L&D) initiatives. Here […]

Can You Unilaterally Change an Employment Contract?

by Brian Smeenk Suppose you want to change an important term of your Canadian employee’s employment contract, such as the bonus plan, future salary adjustments or the termination package. Can you do it without the employee’s agreement? If so, how? Western Inventory Service Ltd. recently found out the hard way that it couldn’t unilaterally alter […]

firing

Tips for Firing Gracefully

Firing someone is never a pleasant task, but it’s something that occasionally must be done. Let’s take a look at a few tips for doing it gracefully, legally, and safely.

Disconnect Between Employers and Employees on Lifestyle Benefits Highlights Communication Gap

Employers and employees are increasingly appreciating the value of nonsalary compensation like employee benefits. When most people think of benefits, they probably think of health insurance, which is an extremely important benefit. But when virtually all employers offer certain foundational benefits, others try to differentiate themselves by offering premium benefits that support employees’ varied lifestyles. […]

SPARK HR Day 1 Recap: Taking Off the Blinders—Sarah Devereaux on the Future of Systems Thinking

Sarah Devereaux, HCI Leadership Coach and Advisor, and former Head of Executive Development at Google, opened her SPARK HR session with a startling reality check: HR is carrying a massive burden. Between market shifts and organizational restructuring, the pressure to find solutions is at an all-time high. However, the “laser focus” HR leaders have relied […]

arbitration

Class Action Claim Dismissed: No Evidence of Injury Due to Alleged COBRA Notice Violation

Many cases have recently challenged the technical content in various employer-provided COBRA notices. The premise of these lawsuits has been that even minor deviations from COBRA regulations from the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) should make a plan administrator liable for penalties even if the notices otherwise included comprehensive COBRA information. Certainly, plan administrators should […]

Willful blindness: a leadership and cultural downfall

by Brad Federman Willful blindness is a legal term that means there is information you could and should know but have elected not to know. Deliberate indifference and contrived ignorance also are used to describe the phenomenon. Unfortunately, there is a great deal of willful blindness in the world today. Willful blindness causes the downfall […]