Most Popular

Watch Your Mouth

Forgive me for repeating myself, but The Office was a repeat last night. Thankfully it was the last repeat before next week’s season premier, Thursday, Sept. 23 on NBC. Moving on. This was the episode where Jo sought to uncover who blew the whistle on Sabre’s faulty explosive printers. There really didn’t seem to be […]

A Reminder to Employers: FMLA Notice Is the Key!

By Lisa Whitaker, JD The U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeal—which covers Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, and Tennessee—recently reminded employers that providing proper notice to employees is key to administering the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA).

NLRB

NLRB rulings have far-reaching impact on employers and policies

by Tony Puckett In December 2014, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) delivered two major edicts that affect all employers. The first speeds up the union election process so employers will have less time to respond to a petition. The second allows employees to use employers’ e-mail systems for union organizing and other protected concerted […]

Employee Internet Use: Worker Waived Privacy Expectations By Signing Agreement That Employer Could Monitor Computer Use; Creating An Internet Policy

Because employee Internet access in the workplace can raise the potential for abuse and misuse, some employers monitor their employees’ Internet activities. But this in turn raises concerns about employees’ right to privacy. An important new California Court of Appeal decision addresses this issue head-on, ruling that an employee who consented to employer monitoring had […]

X-Men playing catch-up on genetics–the real-life wave of the present

Remember when the study of genetic information was deemed to be the purview of those in the medical field or reserved for films and television shows that were classified as “futuristic science fiction”? Not anymore. Today we live in a world where everyone is fully aware that their own genetic code and family history could […]

Arguments in Favor of Hierarchical Pay Raises

In a previous post, we discussed the precarious situations many employers find themselves in when it comes to employee pay increases. We currently find ourselves in a tight labor market with relatively low unemployment, and employees consistently list financial compensation as one of the primary factors in accepting and staying at a job.

Workplace Investigation: Essential Do’s and Don’ts

When harassment or other complaints are filed, you need to do an investigation. Here are some tips … and a “must-listen” audio conference … to help do it right. The note on your desk is handwritten, folded shut, and marked “Confidential.” When you open it, here’s what it says: My two co-workers are hitting on […]

SHRM 2011: Understanding Generation Y

As I noted in an earlier post, I skipped out early from a session at SHRM’s 63rd annual conference that was just an overview of global trends, but the speaker did say something in passing that served me well in the next session I jetted off to: This is the first time in history that […]

Beauty and the Best

By Mark I. Schickman We have eliminated many forms of workplace discrimination and made great strides toward erasing others. Nonetheless, one form of discrimination ― “Beauty Bias,” as coined by Stanford Law Professor Deborah Rhode ― remains alive, well, and possibly inherent in the human condition. When babies are shown pictures of adults, they usually […]