Most Popular

Do Your Employees ‘Get It?’ Building Commitment in the Workforce

By BLR Founder and CEO Bob Brady BLR’s founder agrees that commitment is crucial for business success, but questions whether HR managers can be “commitment coaches” for upper management. In a recent column in Workforce Management, Gershon Mader and Josh Leibner, consultants with Quantum Performance, Inc., wrote about “commitment” (not the kind that women look […]

Making restrictive covenants enforceable

by Ralph N. Nero and Keri L. Bennett Many of our recent articles have focused on decisions involving employees’ breaches or threatened breaches of restrictive covenants. Including restrictive covenants, such as nonsolicitation and noncompetition covenants, into employment contracts is important for employers to protect their business interests. In order to be enforceable, however, such covenants […]

‘I send pregnant employees home their last month’

[Go here for the first part of the discussion on pregnancy discrimination] Requiring Leave May an employer require a pregnant employee who is able to perform her job to take leave at any point in her pregnancy or after childbirth? No. An employer may not force an employee to take leave because she is or […]

EEOC Guidance, Best Practices for Working Caregivers

For many employees, the need to care for sick or very young family members weighs more heavily these days. Jobs are scarce, and staying employed is crucial, but family needs don’t magically disappear. While the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) allows unpaid employee leave to care for others, it doesn’t apply to all employers, […]

Are Your HAZWOPER Responders Trained for Their Duties?

Here’s a quick review of HAZWOPER emergency responder training requirements. Skilled Support Personnel According to the HAZWOPER mandatory compliance guidelines (Appendix C), employees who are not part of the Emergency Response Program and who may be called to the incident scene to provide emergency support assistance (e.g., public works department staff, operators of bulldozers, sand […]

New York tipped minimum cash wage to rise to $7.50 an hour

by Charles H. Kaplan Tipped workers in New York will see the minimum cash wage rise to $7.50 an hour on December 31, 2015, following a February 24 order by New York State Acting Commissioner of Labor Mario Musolino. The order will reduce the tip credit to a $1.50 deduction from New York’s minimum wage […]

California High Court Dismisses “Friends” Harassment Suit

The California Supreme Court has ruled 7-0 that sexually coarse and vulgar language used in meetings by writers developing scripts for the hit television sitcom “Friends” didn’t create a hostile work environment for a writers’ assistant on the show. According to the court, most of the objectionable language and conduct wasn’t aimed at the assistant, […]

Can AI Discriminate? Recruiter Training

Artificial intelligence (AI) has become increasingly prevalent in many aspects of modern life, and it has many applications in the business world, as well. One area that AI has been utilized extensively in is the early phases of the recruitment process. Many businesses employ certain algorithms, or AI, to help narrow down the pool of […]

Compensation Planning Can Be a Jigsaw Puzzle

Putting together a compensation plan can be a lot like solving a jigsaw puzzle. Often, all the pieces are there but jumbled up so the overall picture isn’t clear. It is time-consuming process and, like any good puzzle, takes a bit of patience.