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New Info Security Weapons—Paper and Ink

It’s like going from spaceships back to the horse and buggy or smartphones back to the telegraph. Is the world actually on the brink of going back to saving documents as hard copies? The recent Wiki leaks, the Snowden disclosures, and reported snooping at the recent G6 have the Russian government examining ways to protect […]

Court Ruling in Defense of Marriage Act Case Leaves Uncertainty for Employers

By Kathy Carlson A federal appeals court in Massachusetts ruled Thursday that the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) is unconstitutional because it prevents same-sex married couples from receiving benefits available to heterosexual married couples. The U.S. 1st Circuit Court of Appeals also ruled that in enacting DOMA, the federal government was intruding into domestic […]

What Employers Need to Know When Employees Seek Loans, Withdrawals from Retirement Plans

by Douglas R. Chamberlain When facing financial difficulties, employees often look to their retirement plans as a possible source of needed funds. Many plans offer participant loans or permanent withdrawals, the latter generally on a hardship basis. However, plan loans and withdrawals can jeopardize the employee’s retirement benefits, and both are subject to complex rules […]

Head-in-Sand Management, Dead-in-Water Defense

More often than not, managers avoid giving honest evaluations. Maybe they fear causing hurt feelings or maybe they don’t know what to do, but the result is the same—a lost lawsuit. The solution? The two Cs—Clarify and Coach. A Cautionary Tale—How Many Zeros? One juror explained the simple system his jury had used to determine […]

Hot List: New York Times Bestselling Hardcover Business Books

The following is a list of the bestselling hardcover business books as ranked by the New York Times with data from Nielsen BookScan on December 6. 1. Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose by Tony Hsieh. The visionary CEO of Zappos explains how an emphasis on corporate culture can lead to unprecedented […]

benefits

Developing a Healthcare Education Campaign Strategy for Employees (Part 1)

By Caitlin Far, senior communications consultant, Burnham Benefits Insurance Services With the unemployment rate now below five percent, workers feeling more confident about leaving their current position in search of a new situation, and job openings expanding, employers are increasingly relying on the power of their benefit packages to not only attract talent, but retain […]

Pay Raises in ’09: Revised Lower?

By BLR Founder and CEO Bob Brady BLR CEO Bob Brady would like to know whether employers are backing off of pay raises planned for next year. Please take our very brief survey and see the results next week. Economic uncertainty Until quite recently, employers were saying that pay raises would be inching upwards. Now, […]

Training Programs—What’s Happening in the Real World?

Please participate in our brief survey and see how what you are doing for training stacks up against what other successful companies are doing. We’ll get answers to these questions and more: How often do your employees receive training? What kind of training is conducted? What specific topics is training offered on? What are the […]