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Why Drug Test? Simple. Save Money

"Why do we have substance abuse testing programs?" asks Dr. W. Smith Chandler. The answer is simple—they save money. Chandler, an SPHR and physician who is board-certified in occupational medicine, has helped many employers develop substance abuse programs. His comments came during a recent audio conference sponsored by BLR®. How Do Substance Abuse Programs Save […]

'Made in My Image' Is Wrong Way to Assemble a Winning Team

If you’re going to hire someone, why not hire someone made in your image? Let’s face it—you’ve been successful. You’ve climbed the management ranks. You must be doing something right. So, who better to add to your team than someone just like you? Someone who acts like you. Someone who thinks like you. Someone who […]

change

Business Readiness—The New Mindset for Thriving in Changing Times

By Kelli Hinshaw, vice president, Strategic Development, Reality-Based Leadership Change management is a topic that’s been studied for over 30 years, and organizations are spending more time and resources than ever to train employees to better endure change. Conventional change management wisdom often promotes ways to “make change easier” for employees so it sticks.  Leaders […]

Health Reform Adds a Twist to College Graduation Celebrations

Once, parents were not the only ones celebrating a child’s college graduation — employers were too. While parents were looking forward to kids finally getting out on their own, employers were anticipating getting them off of their group health plan. But health care reform means that employers have to wait a little longer to break […]

Open and Honest Communication

People want to know what’s going on where they work. They want to know what the organization is trying to accomplish — the mission thing. They want to know how the business is going to get there — the vision thing.  And, most of all, they want to know how the company is doing at […]

Employers Exposed to Nuisance, Some New Risks, If Health Reform Law is Repealed

After two years of implementing health reform’s “insurance mandates,” American businesses are now thinking about unraveling the arrangements they put in place to respond to it, in the waning days before the U.S. Supreme Court decides on the constitutionality of the individual mandate. Health reform is going to pose compliance challenges for American businesses whether […]

happiness

Managing Employee Status Changes Under the Affordable Care Act

By Jennifer Carsen, JD, Senior Legal Editor So, you think you’ve got a pretty good handle on this whole Affordable Care Act (ACA) thing. You know that you’re an applicable large employer (or ALE—and that “ALE” isn’t merely that thing you want to drink a lot of after a day of filling out ACA paperwork).

In Rare Post-amendments Ruling, Court Finds Impairment Not a Disability

Being deaf in one ear is not a disability, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District Court of Pennsylvania ruled in Mengel v. Reading Eagle Co. (No. 11–6151, 2013 WL 1285477 (E.D. Pa. March 29, 2014)). While findings of “no disability” were common before the Americans with Disabilities Act was amended, they have been […]