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Minimizing Conflicts Over Workplace Diversity

The American workplace is changing. There are more women, minorities, immigrants, nonimmigrant contract workers, non-English-speaking or limited-English-speaking workers, and older workers in the workforce today. Those employees have different needs, expectations, and skills that present many challenges for management. You must not ignore those differences. Ignoring them simply leads to confusion, conflicts, and eventually discrimination […]

Hot List: Bestselling “Management and Leadership” Books on Amazon.com

Amazon.com updates its list of the bestselling books every hour. Here is a snapshot of what is hot right now, this Monday morning, July 26, in the “Management and Leadership” section of the “Business and Investing” category. 1. Doing Both: How Cisco Captures Today’s Profit and Drives Tomorrow’s Growth by Inder Sidhu. Cisco’s Senior Vice […]

The Number One Lesson in Business

Recently, I spoke to a group of Vanderbilt University students. The university has a class for aspiring entrepreneurs that regularly brings in business owners to share their professional experiences. When I inquired what it was they would like me to speak about, my instructions were to “just tell your story and share the lessons you’ve […]

How the Senate Health Care Bill Could Bury Employers in Paperwork

Employers may need to prepare for an avalanche of paperwork if the U.S. Senate’s Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (H.R. 3590) passes Congress in its current form (or a similar form). The comprehensive 2,074-page health care reform bill, if passed, would impose many additional burdens on employers. Changes to Health Plans Employers would be […]

Employers on their own for compliance with health and safety orders

by Rosalind H. Cooper Employers in many Canadian provinces have often looked to Ministry of Labour inspectors to provide guidance to assist them in complying with their obligations under various occupational health and safety statutes and regulations. Employers often request such advice because they believe that Ministry of Labour inspectors, who visit multiple workplaces and […]

Nonunionized federal employees in Canada insulated from without-cause dismissals

by Christopher Pigott A sharply divided Supreme Court of Canada recently overruled the Federal Court of Appeal and held that, subject to narrow exceptions, federal employers are not entitled to terminate nonunionized employees without cause (Wilson v. AECL). This prohibition applies even if the employer is willing to provide generous notice and severance pay.

Happy Anniversary, Mr. President

Today marks the one-year anniversary of President Obama’s Inaugural, and my guess is that he’s not doing a lot of celebrating. That’s because yesterday, in a special Senate election to fill the late Ted Kennedy’s seat, Massachusetts voters elected a Republican to represent them. President Obama and Democrats across the country must be asking themselves […]

Sexual Harassment Backlash: Big Verdict For Executive Fired Over Harassment Charge

Lawrence Moreau was chief financial officer for Los Angeles-based Direct Express, which was later acquired by Paystation America. Less than three months after starting work, Moreau was fired for allegedly touching two female employees inappropriately. He sued, claiming the charge was unfounded and a company pretext to break his three-year employment contract. Now a Los […]

Can Benefits Bills Distract Congress from Debt Acrimony?

This summer, the U.S. House and Senate took a break from its floundering over debt and deficits to consider a few measures affecting employee benefits. Perhaps it was refreshing, spending at least a little time thinking about something else. Let’s take a look at the latest House and Senate bills that could affect employee benefits. […]