Practical HR Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
Make sure employees know the “why” behind your tech policies, says attorney Lisa Guerin. Otherwise, they’ll find workarounds that could confound—or bring down—your systems. Guerin’s tips come from her recently published book, Smart Policies for Workplace Technologies (NOLO, 2009). She says that you must explain the policies you write about technology. If your employees don’t […]
Our city has a living wage ordinance in effect. Our operations are outside the city limits, but part of our business involves providing services to city agencies. Even though those services represent only a portion of our business, the city wants us to pay the higher living wage rate to all our employees since we […]
By Rosalind H. Cooper As we reported earlier this year, Canadian courts are being asked with increasing frequency to expand the definition of “workplace” under occupational health and safety legislation.
The issue of how employers should handle same-sex marriage got a bit murkier November 6 as a divided appeals court panel broke with rulings from four other U.S. circuit courts of appeals by upholding state bans on same-sex marriage. A three-judge panel from the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued the 2-1 decision, which […]
Sometimes it’s necessary to strip away all the preconceived notions about how to succeed in an industry, reshuffle roles, and take an untraditional approach to change things for the better. That’s even true—maybe especially true—in industries as steeped in tradition as winemaking. Typically, there are three groups involved in winemaking: The winemakers, The distributors, and […]
Governor Schwarzenegger has announced a support network for small businesses impacted by the recent Southern California fires, to help these businesses recover as quickly as possible.
By BLR Founder and CEO Bob Brady You’ve been diligently following the sweeping—and confusing—changes to the federal Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). You’ve even instituted changes to your policies to make sure you’re in compliance. It could be the worst mistake you’ve made all year, says Attorney […]
After several years of employees being required to meet a very high standard to have their cases heard by a jury, that may be changing in the long term. The U.S. Supreme Court recently cautioned federal judges to be careful in the rules of evidence and legal standards for employment discrimination. The Court’s opinion offers […]
Franchisers in Seattle are faced with phasing in the city’s $15-an-hour minimum wage more quickly than they had hoped now that the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has rejected their bid to be classified as small businesses, a decision the franchisers call discriminatory. In 2014, Seattle passed a minimum wage law that requires employers […]
A June 10 ruling by the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals dealt a blow to employers hoping to escape the constraints of the National Labor Relations Board’s (NLRB) rule speeding up union representation elections. The Associated Builders and Contractors of Texas and the National Federation of Independent Business filed the challenge to what many […]