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Declaration to ‘Make Employee Whole’ Very Costly for Employers

By Karen Sargeant You give your employee almost 32 weeks’ pay after terminating his employment without cause. He gets another job two weeks later. You’re off the hook, right? Maybe not. The Ontario Superior Court of Justice in Brito v. Canac Kitchens, a Division of Kohler Canada Co. has recently said no. Instead, you may […]

Ask the Trainer: Social Media Tools

A: Social media tools offer enhanced opportunities for learning outside of training courses, and companies are increasingly using these tools to support informal learning, says Jane Bozarth, author of Social Media for Trainers (www.bozarthzone.com). Social media can help learners stay connected—and keep the training topic in mind—long after a course is completed. Social media also […]

Better with age: legal issues with the aging American workforce

by Allison B. Wannop It is undeniable that the American workforce is getting older or, shall we say, more mature. In The Aging U.S. Workforce, the Stanford Center on Longevity estimates that by 2020, workers 55 and older will make up a quarter of the U.S. labor force, up from 13% in 2000. As the […]

Can Workplace Surveillance Tapes Be Used as Evidence in Canada?

By Lorene A. Novakowski Another recent Canadian case dealing with collection of personal information about employees, this time through surveillance, emphasizes the importance of good employment policy language for Canadian employers. In Toronto Catholic School Board v. Canadian Union of Public Employees, Local 1280, [2011] O.L.A.A. No. 180, the question was whether surveillance tape evidence […]

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Would More Favorable Parental Leave Laws Help Boost Workforce Participation?

We hear a lot in the news these days about the historically low unemployment rate, but one figure we don’t hear about nearly as much is the labor force participation rate—the ratio between the size of the labor force and the size of the overall population for that age group, often grouped by cohort (i.e., […]

Case Management—What’s Really Happening?

What’s happening with case management in the real world? How do you handle routine requests from your employees? What about not-so-routine requests, like complaints? What are your competitors up to? Help us find out! Please participate in our brief survey, and see how what you are doing stacks up against what other successful companies are […]

Must You Post Notices in Foreign Languages?

Federal and state governments require multiple notices to employees, but do they also require them in foreign languages for non-English-speaking workers? The short answer … maybe. Because you’re conscientious about employment law, you’ve put up the required safety and health, family leave, USERRA, and other postings. And you’ve supplied your employees with required information under […]

Employee Engagement, Your Key to Success

Success in business requires a competitive edge—it takes that special something that makes a company and its products or services stand out in a rapidly changing marketplace. A high-performing, engaged workforce can give you that edge. Engaged employees are innovative, enthusiastic, and passionate about their job and where they work. That combination is the key […]

‘Gee … You Don’t Act Gay’

In yesterday’s Advisor, attorneys MichaelCohen and Marc Scheiner covered some basics of dealing with sexual orientation discrimination. Today, we’ll cover their comments on awareness training and take a look at a special program that helps HR managers in small or even one-person departments. There’s a new level of awareness training needed around sexual orientation, says […]

What Physics and History Can Teach HR about Hiring and Firing

by Boyd Byers In physics, chaos theory is the concept that systems rely on an underlying order and are sensitive to initial conditions. As a result of this sensitivity, a small error or imprecision in the initial conditions grows at an enormous rate over time. Thus, two nearly identical sets of initial conditions applied to […]