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Workplace Safety: Keeping Workers Safe from Summertime Hazards

Summer is near, and with it comes additional workplace hazards, especially for employees who work outdoors in the California sun. High heat and bright sun create special risks—including heat exhaustion, heat stroke, and sun-related skin damage—for outdoor workers. Certain insect-borne illnesses such as Lyme disease and West Nile virus are more prevalent in the summer […]

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Importance of Leveraging Ancillary Function Staff

In any company, there are certain activities that are core to the mission and purpose of the organization. There also are noncore or ancillary activities that are, essentially, in place to facilitate the smooth and efficient completion of the core functions.

Once bitten twice shy: Greater scrutiny ahead for employees misclassified as contractors

by Jackie VanDerMeulen Organizations’ use of independent contractors (often also referred to as consultants) as opposed to actual employees has grown significantly over the years. This trend comes as no surprise in a changing economy where particular skill sets are required at specific times and where flexibility is a key driver of success. In some […]

Does Your Safety Training Stick?

To find out more about effective safety training, BLR® talked with Jeffrey Dennis, a certified safety professional and president of Industrial Safety Solutions, Inc., a safety, environmental, and industrial hygiene consulting firm located in Birmingham, Alabama. Technology has enhanced many aspects of safety training, says Dennis. Both external and in-house trainers use a variety of […]

Innovative Wellness Program Wins HR Best Practices Award

An “impressive array of medical, fitness, employee assistance, wellness, and work/life options” garnered the Prudential Financial Companies a prestigious HR Best Practices Award from the New Jersey affiliate of SHRM. Here’s how they managed it. Wellness: From Asthma to Weight Loss K. Andrew Crighton, vice president and chief medical officer for Prudential Financial Companies, shared […]

Social Media: Used Not Just to ‘Friend’, but to Hire

“Should employers be allowed to screen job candidates based on their online behavior even if their actions are not pertinent to t he listed job?” That was the query today from Washington Post financial columnist Michelle Singletary. For human resources (HR) staff, this is not a theoretical question; it’s a very real struggle. The brave […]

Not All Millennials Are ‘Different’

Yesterday’s Advisor presented findings from a Millennial recruiting survey from FirstJob, an organization that specializes in early career hiring. Today, the other side of the coin—maybe there is no generational difference. Not long ago, the HR Daily Advisor® ran a story called “I Y My Millennials.” In it, Editor Steve Bruce extolled the work ethic […]

Growing Up Grotti

Litigation Value: Oscar’s damages–climbing; diversity and harassment training from a trained professional–$2,000; backing off the mafia–priceless. It’s a new episode of The Office that has Michael, Dwight, and Andy convinced that an insurance salesman is part of the mafia based on “his southern Italian heritage.”  While it was entertaining for viewers to watch the trio (and Pat the Mechanic) […]