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Face your setbacks and come out a survivor

by Dan Oswald The 2007 book Lone Survivor tells the true story of a failed Navy SEAL mission in Afghanistan from the viewpoint of the only person who survived, Marcus Luttrell. The book—and later a film of the same title—recounts the details of a mission gone wrong and the battle for survival. Here’s the definition […]

‘Play or pay’ and whistleblower protections under healthcare reform

by Timothy P. Brechtel and Ricardo X. Carlo As if you didn’t have enough to worry about as healthcare reform heads toward full implementation in 2014, the new whistleblower protection provisions of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) may present a trap for unsuspecting employers looking to cut costs by tweaking their workforces. Under ACA Section […]

Elevator Etiquette

By Kyle Emshwiller Forget about elevator pitches, it seems like more and more workers are using those few seconds to annoy coworkers and execs, rather than to network with them. A recent CareerBuilder survey asked respondents to share odd behaviors they have witnessed in the elevator. We were shocked at some of the responses, especially […]

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10 steps to take before responding to a charge of discrimination

by Susan Hartmus Hiser After the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) receives a discrimination complaint from an employee, it begins gathering information about the allegations of discriminatory treatment. That process includes asking the employer to provide relevant documents. Additionally, the agency typically will ask the employer to submit a position statement setting out its response […]

Do You Know the FUNdamentals of Safety Training?

When it comes to openers and closers, safety consultant Linda Tapp urges trainers to keep in mind the law of primary and “recency.” Trainees are going to remember what you do first and last. So you want to make sure to choose the right activities—activities at the beginning of the session that will get trainees […]

Ex Gratia Payments in Pension Plan Allowed

By Lyne Duhaime On June 21, 2011, in Canadian Jewish Congress v. Polger, the Court of Appeal of Quebec overturned a decision of the Superior Court that had ordered an employer to pay millions of dollars in pension benefits based only on an alleged practice and without proper written documentation to that effect. The pension […]

Incentives to Keep Sales Pros Focused Where You Want Them Focused

Sales Organization Sales compensation plans often fail because they are not rooted in careful analysis beforehand. Your plan has to be defined by the market you are in and who your customers and competitors are. For example, if your customers are all young, you may do your sales work over the Internet; if you sell […]

Yes, We Surveyed It—Highlights from BLR’s 2013 Survey Series

Special thanks to all readers who participated in our surveys in 2013! (2014 surveys start soon.) Benefits: Health Insurance Preferred provider organization (PPO) plans are offered by 68% of survey participants, and health maintenance organization (HMO) plans are offered by 31%. High-deductible plans are a benefit for 35%, and point-of-service (POS) plans are available for […]

Don’t Hire New People, Engage your Current People

In yesterday’s Advisor we explored how damaging high employee turnover can be, and some ways to combat it. Today we’ll talk about more strategies for ensuring that you don’t have to hire replacements for your current employees any time soon. As we discussed yesterday, a recent survey states that one in three employees is likely […]