Most Popular

Retirement Plans: An Overview of the Pension Reform Act of 2006

President Bush has signed the Pension Protection Act of 2006 into law, which overhauls pension funding rules, clarifies cash balance plan rules, encourages automatic enrollment in 401(k) plans, and much more. The law spans a massive 907 pages, and we describe some of its key provisions here.

How to avoid retaliation claims when timing raises red flags

What's an employer to do when there is ample documentation to terminate an employee, but the employee has recently engaged in a protected activity? For example, what if the employee files a workers' compensation claim or takes FMLA leave in close proximity to performance issues? This presents a real timing dilemma for employers: Doesn't it look retaliatory to terminate the employee immediately after the protected activity?

Moneyball redux: What can it buy you?

I’m not shy about going back to the well. Last month I posted some lessons HR professionals could take from Billy Beane’s roster management of the Oakland A’s, as told in the bestseller, Moneyball. For my money, Beane’s innovations as GM of the cash-poor A’s put him in the upper ranks of baseball executives among […]

Trump v. Sessions: Constructive discharge? ‘We’ll see what happens’

by Michele L. (Warnock) Brott Not long ago, I wrote a rather lofty theoretical analysis about the notion of “constructive discharge,” or the legally frowned-upon practice of forcing employees to quit instead of firing them. I never expected a real-life threat of constructive discharge to erupt on the national stage. But, voilà! The very public […]

Seattle scheduling law to take effect July 1

by Chelsea Petersen and Stephanie Holstein An ordinance affecting how large retail and food services employers in Seattle schedule workers is set to take effect July 1. The ordinance applies to employers in the retail and food services industries (defined broadly to include restaurants, food trucks, bars, and caterers) with 500 or more employees worldwide […]

3 Ways to Leverage Your People Data in 2019

Intuition—a mental “shortcut”—is the result of two hardwired processes (pattern recognition and emotional tagging), which frequently lead to cognitive errors. As a result of “going with your gut,” even the best, most experienced business leaders can make poor judgment calls about individuals.