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HRDA Frankly Speaking: Strategic Courage

As HR professionals, and really as people, we opt to be nice and polite when dealing with anything in the workplace. But what happens when that blanket “agreeable”-ness produces a stagnant and stale environment instead of something productive? When the status quo becomes more harm than good, how can you break the mold? Amira Barger, […]

Noncompete Agreements: You Can Now Be Sued For Firing A Worker Who Refuses To Sign A Noncompete Agreement

Agreements that prohibit an employee from competing with you after leaving your employment are usually illegal. That’s because contracts that prevent someone from engaging in a lawful occupation are against public policy and are void in California. Now a California Court of Appeal has ruled that you can be sued for making it a condition […]

What are “Ban the Box” Laws?

“Ban the box” refers to the initiatives, which have gained widespread traction, in which laws are being put into place that prohibit employers from asking questions of applicants regarding previous criminal history (and discriminating against them based on their answer) too early in the hiring and recruiting process.

Employer’s Guide to Writing Employee Handbooks

by Peter M. Panken An employee handbook tells workers what they’re getting, instills a team spirit, and lets people know what the rules are. It should emphasize the employer’s fair treatment and how it provides significant benefits like vacations, holidays, health insurance, and retirement benefits. It lets the workers know they can grieve to get […]

What must a BYOD policy do?

Bring your own device (BYOD) policies are starting to gain some traction in the workforce as more and more employees are requesting the ability to use personal devices for work rather than take on yet another device to manage. Employers recognize the benefits (such as employee satisfaction and decreased upfront costs of electronics for the […]

Discharged employees must prove lack of comparable jobs

by Keri Bennett Where an employee has been dismissed from a job without sufficient notice, he or she may look to his or her former employer for compensation for any losses suffered. However, the employee has a corresponding duty to try to limit any such losses by looking for comparable employment. A failure to act […]

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 […]

California Scheming

Litigation Value:  More fodder for potential sexual harassment, sexual orientation, and national origin claims, but it could have been worse. At least Andy didn’t run naked through the parking lot with a doughnut on his ding-dong — that would have put me off of Krispy Kreme for awhile. Was really looking forward to being able […]

Male-Male Sexual Harassment Claims on the Rise

According to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), sexual harassment charges by men have doubled since 1992, accounting for 16 percent of the 12,696 sexual harassment charges filed in the 2009 fiscal year. And while female-male sexual harassment certainly makes up some portion of those claims, it’s evident that male-male harassment claims are also on […]

Train Supervisors to Be Critical Thinkers

Use the following description to teach your supervisors how the critical thinking process works. You can also go over each step of the process in more detail by describing a common workplace situation and then discussing each step trainees would follow to think critically about it. The critical thinking process begins with defining questions clearly […]