Practical HR Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
Although the COBRA statute never defined gross misconduct — leaving it up to the courts — no dictionary is needed when an “out-of-control” employee screams profanities at and makes seemingly threatening hand gestures toward another employee, saying she would “get” hers. This behavior was “so manifestly so outrageous and extreme as to constitute gross misconduct,” […]
The IRS on Jan. 29 provided some long-awaited guidance on which midyear amendments to “safe harbor” 401(k) retirement plans it will allow — and which remain prohibited. The guidance, effective immediately, should put to rest years of confusion among practitioners over when they can adjust plans to reflect short-term changes without putting their plan’s qualification […]
Managers—especially HR managers but others as well—are often called upon to engage employees in the most sensitive, uncomfortable conversations. The gamut extends from telling an employee he or she has bad breath to telling an employee that he or she is fired. These difficult conversations can be made easier by recognizing that once people […]
The National Labor Relations Board’s (NLRB) decision to seek public input on the controversial 2014 rule that sped up the union election process is likely to result in the rescission of the rule, according to an attorney who keeps a close watch on the Board’s actions.
A new study identifies key ways in which bias occurs when grooming and promoting talent, maps out which talent cohorts perceive this bias most and how they perceive it, measures its cost to corporate bottom lines, and offers data demonstrating correlations between specific solutions and a lower incidence of perceived bias.
“Social media background checks are a hot item,” says attorney Kevin McCormick, “but I’m not a fan.” Sneaky, Low, Invasive Furthermore, social sleuthing smacks of “Sneaky,” “Low,” and “Invasion,” says McCormick. “One thing I know is what juries like and what they don’t like, and they don’t like that.” Chair of the Labor and Employment […]
It’s nearing the time of year when workplaces become more festive. Perhaps your office plans to decorate a Christmas tree, as it does every year. Maybe all your employees celebrate Christmas, so it has never occurred to you that you may, inadvertently, be sending a message about your workplace to others, including job candidates.
Successful mentoring relationships start with a clear agreement about goals, procedures, and limitations, says mentoring expert Lois Zachary. Too often mentors and mentees start off without doing enough preparation and end up with an unsatisfactory experience, she says. Zachary, author of The Mentor’s Guide and the recently published The Mentee’s Guide to Mentoring, provides guidelines […]
“What would you attempt to do if you knew you could not fail?” I came across that question in a book the other day, and it really got me thinking. I firmly believe there are many things we don’t try because we’re convinced we won’t succeed. The thinking goes, “Why even go down that road […]
Paul Critchlow wasn’t the only retiree who found retirement unfulfilling and boring. Joe Bartley, an 89-year-old war veteran who lives in England, was also unsatisfied with being retired—so he took out an ad in his local paper in the hopes he’d find a job!