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EEOC Rescinds 2024 Guidance on Harassment in the Workplace

On January 22, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) voted 2–1 to rescind its 2024 Enforcement Guidance on Harassment in the Workplace, No. 915.064, an almost 200‑page document that consolidated decades of agency positions and practices for preventing and correcting harassment. The Republican majority—Chair Andrea Lucas and Commissioner Brittany Panuccio—approved the rescission over the dissent […]

Salary Surveys and Market Pricing

Market-based compensation utilizes salary survey data to evaluate an organization’s pay levels and can make them more, or less, competitive depending on the organization’s compensation philosophy—a framework within which compensation decisions are made.

Ways for Workers and Businesses to Save Money by Cutting Gas and Energy Use

Your employees are probably feeling the pinch, and in many workplaces, talk has already turned to winter survival and energy costs if heating oil, natural gas, and electricity are as expensive as it looks like they will be. You’d like to help, but businesses are feeling the pinch, too. Rising energy costs make it more […]

Computer-Based Training and HAZWOPER Requirements

Employers are continually seeking the simplest means to meet their employee training requirements under OSHA’s hazardous waste operations and emergency response (HAZWOPER) regulations (29 CFR 1910.120). One method that may ease the burden is computer-based training, whether on CD, DVD, or online, which is increasingly available from commercial software vendors. However, OSHA makes it clear […]

10 Questions to Ask Yourself About Sarbanes-Oxley

As you know, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act was signed into law in 2002 to tighten corporate financial reporting protocols. Its overall purpose is to encourage companies to improve their audit requirements and to protect investors by improving the accuracy and reliability of corporate disclosures. Since its implementation, there has been much controversy regarding the efficacy of […]

Employers can learn lessons from DOL’s FLSA woes

Many thought it ironic in mid-August when news broke that the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) had agreed to a $7 million settlement in a 10-year-old dispute with its own employees and their union. The same agency charged with policing how employers comply with the wage and hour law apparently had compliance problems of its […]

Can You Really Train in 10 Minutes?

What do the Washington State Department of Personnel (DOP), Agile Software, and the Ritz Carlton Hotels have in common? All use the “10-Minute Stand-Up”—a no-chairs-allowed daily meeting to beat the endless meeting syndrome. Washington State DOP At the Washington State DOP, the meetings take time—but not much—to: Recap the previous day’s results. Review plans for […]

Ask the Expert: Should We Insist on Certification?

We have an employee who missed 6 days of work due to pneumonia. We sent her the FMLA paperwork however she never returned the Certification of Healthcare Provider. She is back and work. Must we insist that she have the Certification completed or can we say that her leave will be denied under FMLA? She […]