Practical HR Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
by Charlie Plumb An Oklahoma law going into effect on November 1 allows employees to store ammunition in their locked vehicles parked at work. A key aspect of Oklahoma’s Self-Defense Act allows people with valid gun licenses to carry handguns openly as well as concealed weapons in many public places. But another part of the […]
Let’s hear it for job descriptions! OK, we agree, no one’s cheering about doing them, but we did explain in yesterday’s Advisor how important they are. Fortunately, there’s a handy program that makes quick work of job description tasks. We’re talking about BLR’s unique Job Descriptions Encyclopedia. Around here, we call it the “JDE.” Here’s […]
Amid historically low interest rates, the U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals’ recent affirmation of a retirement plan’s choice of discount rate for converting annuities into lump-sum payments to beneficiaries should reassure defined benefit plan sponsors facing similar challenges. In Dennison v. MONY Life Retirement Income Security Plan (No. 12-2407, 7th Cir., March 6, 2013), […]
It sounds like a childhood taunt. “What are you afraid of?” If you close your eyes for a minute, chances are you can go back in time and recall a situation in which you were asked that exact question. Someone was trying to push you into doing something you really didn’t want to do—daring you […]
Don’t terminate without running through this list of hidden problems, says attorney Edward M. Richters. You don’t want to be on the witness stand going “Humina, humina, humina” defending your decision to terminate. Richters comments came at a workplace law symposium sponsored by national employment law firm Jackson Lewis and the Connecticut Business and Industry […]
Litigation value: $150,000. This isn’t Hooters, Dwight. Requiring Kathy to flirt with customers is sexual harassment. Additional damages if Todd Packer plays his sexual predator role as well as we suspect he can. “Bloggers are gross. Bloggers are obese. Bloggers have halitosis.” — Dwight Shrute Sticks and stones, Dwight. Sticks and stones. Dwight should be […]
Lawyers like to talk about picky legal points, says attorney Jeffrey Wortman, but the real bottom line for most legal cases is fairness. Juries—and sometimes judges—are more likely to make a decision based on fair treatment than on legal treatment. It isn’t only in court that you reap the benefits of fairness, Wortman notes. It’s […]
by Kaitlin L.H. Robidoux The White House is urging businesses to take the Fair Chance Business Pledge and commit to providing individuals with criminal records “a fair chance to participate in the American economy.” The idea behind the initiative is that individuals with a criminal history have trouble finding employment, and many communities are hurt […]
by Denise Trani-Morris Just as in any other job, California state employees can be incapacitated in this line of duty and can receive certain special disability retirement benefits. However, once deemed no longer incapacitated, the employee must be reinstated. This was reaffirmed by a recent appeals case.
“You need to personally make sure that your company is a place where people want to work,” says Jon Gordon in his book, The Shark and the Goldfish: Positive Ways to Thrive During Waves of Change. “You must focus on winning in the workplace if you want to win in the marketplace,” says Gordon. Here […]