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The Delicate Dance of Addressing Mental Disabilities

Many mental impairments are hard to spot and hard to diagnose, and employers tend to give mental impairments too much attention or too little, says attorney Audra Hamilton. Mental impairments should be handled exactly the same way as physical impairments are, she adds. Hamilton’s remarks came at BLR’s Advanced Employment Issues Symposium, held recently in […]

Get Plugged in to Electrical Safety Training

The material in today’s Advisor is adapted from a course in TrainingToday’s Workplace Safety Library called “Electrical Safety—Unqualified Worker.” Regulatory Overview 29 CFR 1910.302 to 1910.308 (design safety rules), and 29 CFR 1910.331 to 1910.335 (safe work practice rules) Electrical safety deals with the reliability and effective maintenance of electrical systems that can be achieved […]

Trash talk or abuse? NFL debates banning the N-word

In any other NFL offseason, with the hype over combine results all over the television and free agency in full swing, it’s likely many football fans might not notice the NFL Competition Committee meeting in the background. But this year, the committee is making news as it mulls over a controversial potential new rule that […]

Temps And Contingent Workers: Fallout From Microsoft Ruling Continues-New Lawsuits And Legislation May Force Employers To Pay Benefits

When a federal appeals court ruled recently that software giant Microsoft Corp. will have to pay retroactive employee benefits, including stock options, to temporary employees hired through staffing agencies, it sent a shudder through the growing number of employers who use temps in addition to regular workers. Since the court’s ruling, employees and lawmakers have […]

Do You Train Supervisors to Be ‘Caring’?

From familiarizing supervisors with federal and state employment law to keeping them updated on the company’s policies and procedures, trainers must manage multiple training priorities—often on a limited budget. It can be easy to overlook a “soft” topic, such as training supervisors and managers to demonstrate care for employees and to build positive relationships with […]

Time for California employers to be ready for $10 minimum wage

by Elizabeth J. Boca The minimum wage in California will increase from $9 to $10 an hour as of January 1. Employers must understand that paying the higher minimum wage alone doesn’t satisfy their obligations because the upcoming increase will spark a domino effect in various compliance areas.  Exempt “white-collar” employees. Each time the state […]

And the Oscar for Employee Excellence Goes to …

    Oswald, CEO of BLR®, offered his thoughts on recognizing excellence in a recent edition of The Oswald Letter. Now let me put that in perspective for a moment. The Academy was formed in 1927, with the state of California granting its charter as a nonprofit organization on May 11 of that year. Films […]

Workplace Security and Privacy: How the USA Patriot Act Could Affect Your Company

In the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks, President Bush signed into law the USA Patriot Act, amending 15 federal statutes to give law enforcement officials wider latitude in investigating and punishing terrorists. Several provisions in the 342-page law will impact employers—particularly sections regarding records, electronic surveillance, and financial institutions. But because the […]