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Reductions In Farce

Employment law attorney Troy Foster examines “The Baby Shower”  episode of The Office and determines that while Dunder Mifflin might not be liable for sex discrimination, it probably needs to take  a look at the Scranton crew’s work habits. Litigation Value: Still currently $0. When we wrote about The Baby Shower episode of The Office […]

Controversial EEOC official reconfirmed as general counsel

P. David Lopez, general counsel of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), won confirmation for another four-year term on a 53-43 Senate vote on December 3. The Senate also voted 93-2 to confirm Charlotte Burrows to a seat on the commission. Lopez became the agency’s general counsel in April 2010. Before taking the general counsel […]

Can You Help Us Rewrite Our Dress Code?

We’re in the process of rewriting our employee handbook, and we want to modify our employee appearance policy. What do we need to consider? We want our employees to look professional, but we don’t want to get caught in a lawsuit. — Ronald W., San Jose

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Google Blunder a Lesson for Trainers

A few weeks ago, we posted a series of blogs on blunders by entry- or low-level employees that ended up costing their companies big money. Unfortunately, Google has recently had its own blunder; we’ll discuss that here, as well as what we can learn from Google’s mistake.

No immediate effects expected because of Solis resignation

U.S. Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis announced on January 9 she will step down, but no signs of immediate change to U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) policy or pending audits are apparent. President Barack Obama praised Solis’ term as DOL leader but named no possible successor. “Over her long career in public service—as an […]

Flight Crew Meals Exclusion Limited to 50 Percent

In a recently released legal memorandum, the IRS said that meals provided to airline crewmembers while they are on duty aboard an aircraft are not excluded from the employees’ gross income as a de minimis fringe benefit because they were not provided at “eating facilities.” Although the value of the meals would be excludable from […]

Employment Branding: Software, Training, Success

Yesterday’s Advisor featured tips from Heather Polivka for building your brand with employee ambassadors. Today we will discuss more of her tips, including software to help training and levels of employee involvement. Polivka, senior director of Global Employer Branding & Marketing at United Health Group, offered her branding tips at the HR Technology Conference held […]

Surge in Mandatory Sexual Harassment Training–Are You Included?

Sexual harassment is certainly not a new problem, but the fallout from the Harvey Weinstein sexual harassment and assault scandal has rocked the nation’s consciousness of this issue in industries from entertainment to business to sports. The political environment is no different as high profile resignations or retirements by accused sexual harassers like Minnesota Senator […]

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Small Businesses Place Blame on Big Businesses for Hiring Challenges

Results from a recent survey of small business owners conducted by Survey Monkey and CNBC found that “16% of small business owners (but 41% of small businesses with 50 employees or more) have had open positions for at least three months.” That’s a pretty big number for those 50+-employee companies. And those businesses have some […]