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Steer clear of holiday season’s discrimination hazards

December is often a time for office parties, gift exchanges, and general holiday cheer in the workplace, but the season also can bring claims of discrimination and harassment if employers aren’t mindful of a religiously diverse workforce.  Legal hazards come in many forms. For example, non-Christians may feel discriminated against or harassed by all the […]

CCE Offers Report on Adverse Impact Analyses

The Washington, D.C., nonprofit research and think tank organization, the Center for Corporate Equality (CCE) has issued a detailed report on “best practices” for conducting the adverse impact analyses, which are used to detect and sometimes litigate employment discrimination claims. The editors of Federal Employment Law Insider interviewed David Cohen, who is on the board […]

Your Human Resources Policies and Procedures Manual: The Office Dust Collector?

Open your Human Resources Policies and Procedures Manual for a fresh look and you may find you’ve opened up your whole organization. If you’re like most companies, chances are good your company has a human resources policies and procedures manual. Unfortunately, they’re equally good that that once-vital human resources policies and procedures manual hasn’t been […]

Can You Ban Political Discussion? (You Can Try …)

What do you do if your workplace is so politically polarized that workers in the same department can’t have a civil discussion without becoming red-faced and loud-mouthed? In a BusinessWeek article, Bruce Weinstein, PhD., who calls himself “The Ethics Guy,”says that most political issues are by their nature highly divisive. At stake in this year’s […]

Review Résumés at Rocket Speed!

Placing one job ad can result in a torrent of resumes. Here’s how to cut through the pile quickly and have more time for qualified candidates. Every HR manager knows this situation: You put a job ad in the newspaper or on the Web. Within days, or even hours, your inboxes (electronic and plastic) are […]

Health Insurance: Notification Mistake Leaves Employer on the Hook for Medical Bills; 3 Compliance Steps

A recent ruling illustrates that cutting corners in meeting your notice obligations under federal COBRA—the health insurance continuation law—can mire you in an expensive lawsuit and put you on the hook for someone’s medical bills. We’ll explain what happened and review some simple measures that would have kept this new case from ever reaching the […]

The Single Most Common—and Potentially Costly—Mistake Employers Make

By Stephen D. Bruce, PHR Editor, HR Daily Advisor What’s the most costly mistake manages and supervisors make? We found out at BLR’s Advanced Employment Issues Symposium (AEIS), where three top employment law attorneys took on the toughest questions of the appreciative audience. Participating panelists, all members of the Employers Counsel Network, were Molly DiBianca […]

Until death do us part: Attempts to reduce retiree benefits fail—for now

By Ralph Nero, Ross Gascho, and Keri Bennett As in the United States, some Canadian employers have attempted to eliminate or reduce post-retirement benefits in order to address escalating costs. In two recent cases, Canadian employers were found to be not entitled to reduce post-retirement health and life insurance benefits. Courts in both Ontario and […]

COBRA

COBRA: Proper Mailing Procedures Trump Address Mistake

by Gwen Cofield Although an employer or plan administrator is not required to ensure actual receipt of the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA) notice, a good-faith effort to provide the COBRA notice must be made. Where an administrative error prevents the receipt of the COBRA notice, an employer or plan administrator can demonstrate good-faith […]