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Happy New Year—It’s Time for the Dullest Job in HR

In HR, sometimes the dullest jobs are the most important. Even HR has essential functions, and one of them is updating job descriptions. It’s not exactly the thrilling part of HR, but it can’t be overlooked. It’s the beginning of the new year—bite the bullet. No HR manager has time to just sit down and […]

National Guardsman Gets Second Chance After Termination Following Deployment

by Barbara J. Koenig, Foster, Rieder & Jackson, P.C. As you know, the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA) is a federal statute that protects the employment rights and benefits of uniformed servicemembers who have returned from military deployment. USERRA not only requires employers to rehire returning employees who were absent from their […]

New West Virginia law requires accommodations for pregnant employees

by John R. Merinar, Jr., and Carolyn A. Wade A new West Virginia law taking effect June 4 means employers in the Mountain State must make reasonable accommodations to a job applicant’s or employee’s known limitations involving pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions. The Pregnant Workers’ Fairness Act amends the West Virginia Human Rights Act. […]

How Many ‘F Bombs’ Before It’s Illegal?

How many “Fs” does it take until it’s illegal? “You don’t care,” says attorney Jonathan Segal, “because long before it’s illegal it’s unacceptable, and you should act.” It all depends, says Segal. Say someone just got some terrible news and he says, “Oh, f—.” Is that harassment? No, says Segal, but it may be inappropriate. […]

Hot List: BusinessWeek’s Best Seller List

BusinessWeek magazine ranks the 10 best selling hardcover and paperback business books for October 2009 and gives a short summary. 1. The Accidental Billionaires: The Founding of Facebook A Tale of Sex, Money, Genius and Betrayal by Ben Mezrich. An unflattering portrait of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. 2. A Colossal Failure of Common Sense: The […]

Voluntary Benefits: Some Say ‘Garbage’; Some Say, ‘Bargain’

Miles is vice president and senior employee benefits consultant at Gregory and Appel Insurance. During his presentation at a recent boot camp sponsored by BLR®, he was joined by colleague Janet McClure, vice president and worksite marketing team leader. What Are Voluntary Benefits? “Voluntary benefits” are generally insurance products sold to employees at work through […]

Catch Me If You Can Compensation? DOL Says ‘I Caught You’

Employers can say “Catch me if you can,” but they had better be ready to explain their decisions when the DOL says ‘I caught you,” says consultant Jonna Contacos-Saywer. “There is a dramatic increase in wage and hour lawsuits,” says Contacos-Sawyer (and the recent Wal-Mart decision probably means an even greater increase). At her presentation […]

An Executive’s Thoughts on Executive Pay

Imagine for a moment that you own a company. Unfortunately, your company, like many companies recently, has experienced some problems that have put its mere survival in question. You’ve taken action, removed the employees who were responsible for creating most of the problems, and even brought in a new senior executive — a seasoned industry […]

Tip for HR: Don’t Be a Management Tool

Special from SHRM’s Legal and Legislative Conference Tip for HR: Don’t Be a Management Tool In yesterday’s Advisor, SHRM’s top-rated speaker, attorney Jonathan Segal offered the first 10 of his “they won’t tell you but I will” principles. Today, 11 to 15, plus an introduction to the unique guide specially directed toward the smaller or […]