Practical HR Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
Are you stuck in a neutral-colored cubicle with no view of the sky? Does your company ban personal pictures and mementos from your work space? Does all the furniture match? Excessive blandness has been known to lead to lethargy at the least. Well, Etsy is in the forefront of bucking the minimalist trend in office […]
by Jane Meacham The Internal Revenue Service (IRS), in its first “Required Amendments (RA) List” on December 13, 2016, informed individually designed employer-sponsored retirement plans about required amendments for 2016 that may be needed to reflect changes and ensure the plans keep their qualified status. In the release, IRS Notice 2016-80, the agency also said […]
For over 25 years now, I have been consulting with companies about diversity and inclusion. This was long before the word “equity” was included. I’ve watched the concepts go from apathy to mild interest to the hottest internal HR and community initiatives that brought the word “equity” into the mix to now diversity, equity, and […]
A health plan’s lack of a full plan document, and an erroneous reference to such a document in the summary plan description (SPD), did not defeat the plan’s claim for reimbursement from a beneficiary’s medical malpractice settlement, a federal appeals court ruled.
Despite upheaval in the retail industry that has resulted in thousands of store closures, price cuts on merchandise, and consolidation, there may be high demand for seasonal jobs this year, according to a forecast from global outplacement and executive coaching firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas.
Everyone agrees that supervisors need to document their HR actions, but many have writers’ block. Just remember, says attorney Jonathan Segal, you didn’t hire them for this skill. Here are common mistakes, and ideas for doing it better. The hardest part of writing a discipline memo is writing the first sentence, so give your supervisors […]
Do you know harassment when you see it? Sometimes, sure, but often not, because harassment isn’t about intent, it’s about effect. Employees may appear to be enjoying a situation but be thinking, “I’m being harassed, I’m calling my lawyer.” In today’s Advisor, we’ll propose several scenarios that will help with your anti-harassment training. Jack and […]
What can employers do to help ensure the success of digital mindfulness training? It’s no secret that employees can get easily distracted by technology, but a new survey by ComPsych® Corporation, a provider of employee assistance programs, illustrates how pervasive the problem is. In fact, 88% of employees acknowledge that they browse social media outlets […]
Professional ergonomist Kevin Butler recently penned an article on our sister site, HR.BLR.com®, regarding the latest up-to-date information on how employees can improve well-being in their workspaces. Click the “yesterday’s Advisor” link in the first paragraph for the first half of Butler’s advice. Here are the last three ergonomic tips from Butler: 3. Sitting up […]
John Liotine, the mechanic who first alerted authorities to potential problems at Alaska Airlines’ Oakland maintenance facility, has now filed a $20 million defamation lawsuit against the company. Liotine charged that information on the airline’s Web site suggested he was incompetent and he had accused his supervisors of misconduct because they passed him over for […]