Most Popular

Are Single, Childless Workers Shortchanged by Benefit Plans?

by Hillary J. Collyer Over the past two decades, the American workforce has enjoyed a significant increase in family-friendly policies in the workplace. Yet are those “family-friendly” benefits fair to all employees? Employees without children wonder whether they receive less valuable corporate benefits than their counterparts with children. Employers are prohibited from providing unequal benefits […]

compensation

Ask the Expert: Are Cash Payments in Lieu of Benefits Part of Base Wage?

Question: We provide employees the option to take a lump sum cash payment ($1,000/yr) in lieu of accepting benefits, payable in increments over each pay period. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit has indicated those payments should be included in the base wage for purposes of calculating overtime (see Flores v. City […]

Compliance in the Pandemic

For the past few years, COVID-19 has been a constant stressor. For businesses, there is some uncertainty around how to best handle the pandemic from a legal standpoint.

Benefits of Hiring Independent Contractors

Does your organization hire only permanent employees? Or does it use a mix of employees and independent contractors? Or perhaps you rely solely on independent contractors and have no permanent staff?

Return

10 Things Every Employer Needs to Do Before Reopening

It’s just a matter of time before organizations start opening their doors to employees and customers again. The way they reopen, however, can make all the difference between a safe and an unsafe workplace. The National Safety Council in concert with the Safe Actions for Employee Returns (SAFER) task force have identified 10 universal actions […]

Claim Your HR Seat at the Table: 4 Questions to Ask Your Business Leader Clients

Too often business leaders reduce HR to little more than order-takers: fill requisitions, solve employee problems, calculate compensation tables, run surveys. While beneficial, these don’t compare to your higher purpose of ensuring the organization’s talent is—and gets treated as—a strategic asset. But you can’t play that role without first shattering the order-taker illusion and claiming […]

Winning on Purpose: Chick-Fil-A’s “My Pleasure” Secrets to a Gold-Standard Culture

In the world of HR, “culture” is often a buzzword that feels hard to pin down. But for Nicholas Lawrence, Executive Director of People & Culture, local franchise for Chick-fil-A Indianapolis, culture isn’t a vague feeling—it’s a measurable standard. During a webinar ahead of his session at SPARK HR 2026, Lawrence shared how one of the […]

social media

Should You Check An Applicant’s Social Media Accounts?

When it comes to hiring, your company is looking for the best and brightest. But reading through resumes, perusing cover letters, reaching out to references, and hosting interviews can only tell you so much. How can you tell if an employee is going to fit into your company culture? How can you be certain they […]

training

4 Types of Hands-On Training Your Employees Need in 2019

Online e-learning and mobile learning are still gaining popularity in the workplace, but it’s important to note that workplace learners still prefer hands-on training and on-the-job training opportunities—even more than digital learning experiences. And research continues to show that blended learning is still critical to the modern-day workplace.