Practical HR Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
FedEx Corp. has agreed to pay out $53.5 million to settle a class action lawsuit charging that the company’s express delivery unit, FedEx Express, discriminated against African-American and Latino workers. The settlement, which is believed to be among the 10 most expensive discrimination settlements in U.S. history, affects about 20,000 employees in the company’s Western […]
by David G. Wong Traditionally, when an employee’s absenteeism was excessive and there was no reasonable prospect of returning to work in the foreseeable future—as long as there was no contractual term providing otherwise—a Canadian employer could discharge the employee for non-culpable absenteeism or treat the employment contract as having been frustrated. This would bring […]
In the most familiar type of workplace bias lawsuit, the employee charges that the employer had a discriminatory motive. Butin disparate impact cases, the employee claims that an apparently neutral policy or practice of the employer disproportionately hurt employees in a protected class, even though there was no intent to discriminate. A new California appeal […]
First of a four part series Whether bedbugs happen to invade an office, a warehouse, school, library, hotel, or restaurant, they can be quite difficult to find and eradicate, more so than in the typical home. “In most cases [at work], there is no bed or sleeping area in which to focus a search for […]
Amazon.com updates its list of bestselling business books hourly. Here is a snapshot of what books were hot this morning — Monday, December 4. 1. The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism by Naomi Klein. The neo-liberal economic policies—privatization, free trade, slashed social spending—that the Chicago School and the economist Milton Friedman have foisted […]
HR managers have a balancing act to perform in preventing retaliation, says Attorney Judith A. Moldover. You’ve got the manager storming around, saying "I’m going to get this person—can I fire him today?" And you’ve also got a complaining employee who is strutting around thinking he or she is bulletproof. Find the balance, Moldover says. […]
by Tara McPhail McCarthy Tetrault Canadian human rights laws require employers to accommodate employees and customers with disabilities up to a point. What point? The point at which the accommodation would constitute “undue hardship” on the employer. But what makes an undue hardship? A recent Supreme Court of Canada decision appears to set a high […]
Credit reports can be a useful tool for screening job applicants, but using them recently became more complex. That’s because of several important changes to the federal Consumer Credit Reporting Reform Act that are effective September 30, 1997. If you violate these provisions or a similar state law, you can be sued for steep penalties, […]
Are they talking about me? Do they understand me? Who knows? My workers speak a dozen languages. I’m making a simple rule– speak English at work or else you’re done here. What with changing demographics, retention woes, and increased hiring demands, more and more businesses are concerned about dealing with employees whose native language is […]
A recent Twitter Chat addressed the practice of relaxation techniques as an effective means of fighting both mental and physical stress. The good news was that many of the techniques can be effectively used during work hours.