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What You Must Do to Prevent Retaliation Lawsuits

In yesterday’s Advisor, we featured attorney Michael Faillace’s suggestions for avoiding the first prong of retaliation charges. Today, the second and third prongs, and an introduction to an extraordinary 10-minute-at-a-time training program. Faillace, managing partner of Michael Faillace & Associates in New York City, offered specific steps HR managers can take to prevent retaliation at […]

Notice Periods for Older Employees – 69-Year-Old Gets 24 Months

By Dominique Launay In Quebec, an employer may fire an employee with “reasonable notice” of termination or pay in lieu of notice unless there’s a contract dealing with termination or there’s “just cause” for dismissal (and save for specific statutory regimes). Like the rest of Canada, reasonable notice is determined on a case-by-case basis taking […]

Reform FAQs Solidify Rules on OOP Maximums, Provider Nondiscrimination

Non-grandfathered employer-sponsored group health plans must abide by out-of-pocket maximums for every individual covered, whether they are enrolled in “self-only” or in “other than self-only” (family) coverage. And the government stayed enforcement of the Affordable Care Act’s provider nondiscrimination rules, according to a new set of frequently asked questions from the departments that administer health care reform. […]

Ready for kickoff

I live in the South. This time of year, that means college football; that also means otherwise healthy friendships will erupt with enough recrimination, envy, taunts, and ill will to put the Corleones and Tattaglias to shame. Everyone crows that this is their year , we’re going to come out on top, and what-do-you-mean-that-overtime-loss-last-month-means-we-can’t-play-for-the-championship? (Except […]

Exorcise ‘ghost policies’ from your employee handbook

by Boyd Byers Is your employee handbook or policy manual haunted by shadowy policies and provisions that are treated as though they aren’t even there? “Ghost policies” can creep into a handbook in a number of ways. They may be relics that once lived useful lives—the legacies of long-departed HR managers—but their original purpose is […]

Excessive Absenteeism: When Enough is Enough

By Keri Bennett Employers everywhere often wonder when an employee’s “innocent” or no-fault absences reach a level that warrants termination. Can these employees ever be fired? Yes, is the answer from one New Brunswick labor arbitrator in Canadian Union of Public Employees, Local 1252 and Vitalité Health Network. Facts A nurse at a hospital in […]

How do ‘bathroom bills’ affect employers in other states?

by Joseph Godwin Much attention has been given recently to laws passed concerning transgender individuals’ use of public restrooms. Over the past few years, state legislatures have passed or proposed “bathroom bills” that generally require individuals to use the bathroom that corresponds to the gender listed on their birth certificate and prevent transgender individuals from […]

Rhode Island’s temporary caregiver leave law takes effect January 1

by Timothy C. Cavazza As of January 1, 2014, Rhode Island’s temporary disability insurance program will be expanded to cover employees taking temporary caregiver leave. Leave will be available to employees “to care for a seriously ill child, spouse, domestic partner, parent, parent-in-law, grandparent, or to bond with a new child.” An employee who is […]

Think You’re in HR? You’re Actually in Sales

Special from Chicago: SHRM Annual Conference and Exposition We’re all salespeople, whether our title says sales or not, says business guru Dan Pink, and that’s probably more true of HR people than most others. Fortunately, he adds, sales isn’t what it used to be. Pink’s best-selling titles include Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates […]

DOL Test for Classifying Interns as Unpaid

Unpaid internships can be mutually beneficial for students and employers: students receive invaluable workplace experience and employers benefit from the opportunity to begin training the next generation of talent. However, you must be aware of the distinction between paid and unpaid internships. Internships in the for-profit, private sector will most often be viewed as employment […]