Practical HR Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
HR practitioner Paul Knoch reviews The Wisdom of Crowds by James Surowiecki. He finds that while the book is a bit heavy on theory and light on real-life examples, the examples that are provided are revealing and the book raises the important question of whether businesses should look beyond a small field of experts or […]
Trainers are left to juggle these competing interests and to justify the company’s continued investment in training. However, trainers can create buy-in by demonstrating the value of training and positioning it as a crucial part of employees’ work, rather than a distraction from it. Anecdotal success stories can help create a positive mindset about training, […]
In yesterday’s Advisor, we listed 15 management actions that can increase your company’s risk of being sued. Today, we present 12 more manager/supervisor actions that you must be training against according to our sister publication HR Daily Advisor.
By Thora A. Sigurdson In Sciancamerli v. Comtech (Communication Technologies) Ltd., 2014 BCSC 2140, a specialized salesperson was terminated without cause after 10 months’ service. He sued for wrongful dismissal. At trial, the main issues were the length of notice for a short-term salesperson and his entitlement, if any, to commission payments during the notice […]
Harassment training is always tricky—Discuss the behaviors of harassing managers, and you may be creating an uncomfortable environment just with your training. Here are a few scenarios that should get discussions going without offending. The scenarios below are from training programs in the BLR® Employee Training Center. Gayla’s Dress is “Provocative” Gayla G’s job took […]
Many employers try to combat workplace bias with diversity programs that emphasize the company’s commitment to respecting differences, such as sexual orientation. But suppose an employee with strong religious beliefs posts messages offensive to a protected group. What are your obligations—to the employee and co-workers—in this situation? A new case addresses this problem.
Each organization needs to weigh the advantages and disadvantages of online learning and decide when it makes sense to use it as part of a blended learning approach.
By BLR Founder and CEO Bob Brady BLR’s founder ponders whether a “No Jerks” rule for hiring (and managing) would be a boon for the organization … or an excuse for turning away the people who might benefit it the most. Several years ago. Robert Sutton, a well-known Stanford University Business School professor, published an […]
“Puritanism: The haunting fear that someone, somewhere, may be happy.” -H.L. Mencken This post may not be the usual finger-wagging scold you may have come to expect from an employment lawyer. I’m confident, though, that this blog’s audience of fellow practitioners and human resource professionals will take a little solace in it. After all, it’s no […]
Q. We have a safety meeting that all employees attend. Are the hours attending the safety meeting considered "hours worked" for overtime purposes? A. Training programs conducted during regular working hours constitute work time and must be compensated as such, according to the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). After-hours training need not be compensated […]