Most Popular

Nevada Supreme Court clarifies connection between healthcare coverage, minimum wage

by Deanna L. Forbush Nevada is unique in so many ways. For instance, unlike other states, Nevada has a constitutional provision that authorizes a two-tiered minimum wage. It’s called the Minimum Wage Amendment (MWA). Under the MWA, if an employer provides qualifying health benefits, a minimum-wage employee may be paid $1 per hour less than […]

Coffee with a Conscience: 5 Ways to Make Break Time Greener

by Sarah McAdams The average office worker in America uses about 500 disposable cups every year, according to the Clean Air Council. If 10 million of them used their own mugs, it would eliminate about 312,500 miles of trash every year. Launching a “green coffee” program at your company can be as simple as changing […]

Happy People Don’t Sue! (There Aren’t a Lot of Happy People)

There aren’t a lot of happy people at work these days, says Hunter Lott, and that means that HR managers have their work cut out for them in preventing lawsuits. Lott, an HR practitioner dedicated to the “rights of management,” is known for his entertaining yet informative approach. His remarks came during his annual “Please […]

Job Descriptions–Your First Line of Defense

In the last issue of the Advisor, we covered methodology and appraisal in layoffs. Today, we look at the role of job descriptions–and at a surprising new job description development and storage system. If anyone questions your selections for layoff (and yes, someone is going to question them), and you considered skills and priorities for […]

Wellness Programs and the Health Care Reform Debate

You can hardly turn on the TV or pick up a newspaper these days without hearing or reading something about the health care reform debate. No matter the political party or industry, nearly everyone seems to agree that the current system is broken, with tens of millions of Americans uninsured and health care costs skyrocketing. […]

Ramping Up at BLR: Hiring Key People

From Dan: As a way to honor the individuals who have taught me critical life lessons about people and business, I’ve invited several to write guest columns to run in this space over the next few weeks. Today’s voice of experience once again is Robert L. Brady, the founder of BLR®—Business & Legal Resources. This […]

Would You Take Them Back if You Could?

In a recent article we looked at the pros and cons of rehiring former employees. Today, we present a few more considerations.

Workplace Lessons from the Campaign Trail

by Margaret DiBianca Politics isn’t a career for the thin-skinned. “Getting the goods” on one’s opponent often seems like a strategic tactic. Candidates who engage in that “strategy” look for harmful information, and then, when the time is right, maybe at a rally or mid-debate, the goods are slung like mud in the general direction […]

Race Discrimination: $131 Million Jury Verdict Hits Makers Of Wonder Bread

Yet another dramatic punitive damage award shows how juries can render potentially devastating employment-related verdicts. We previously reported on a pending lawsuit by 21 African-American workers at Northern California Wonder Bread bakeries for race discrimination. Now the verdict is in, and a San Francisco jury has awarded $11 million in compensatory damages and a whopping […]

California: Marijuana Referendum Goes Down in Ashes

by Mark Schickman, Freeland Cooper & Foreman LLP Politically, California bucked the national move to the right, reelecting House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senator Barbara Boxer — two poster children for the perceived overreaches of the Obama administration. In the governor’s race, it rejected the claimed business savvy of former e-Bay CEO Meg Whitman, instead […]