Practical HR Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
It has now been almost a year since health care reform was first enacted. The first year involved many compliance challenges, not the least of which was keeping up with the many pieces of guidance issued by DOL, IRS and HHS. Plans had to expand coverage (more dependents, fewer dollar limits, no more questions about […]
Republicans in Congress have said they will support a budget increase for the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission—but there’s a catch. They’re demanding that the agency promise to stop using undercover “testers” who pose as job applicants for the sole purpose of scoping out whether your hiring practices are legal. The lawmakers also want to […]
The U.S. Supreme Court left intact a landmark federal Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal ruling that has forced many employers to reassess how they deal with temporary workers. The federal court had ruled that Microsoft improperly treated as many as 10,000 temporary employees as independent contractors and illegally denied them the option of participating […]
Yesterday’s Advisor showed how big data are proving some long-held axioms of HR false. Today, how you can use small data, plus notice of an important upcoming no-cost webinar Success Begins with Strategy: HR Innovation in the Workplace featuring Susan Meisinger (sponsored by Kronos). Can big data solve your HR problems? The important thing to […]
By William D. Pandolph, JD, Sulloway & Hollis P.L.L.C. A New Hampshire employee’s Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) retaliation claim recently survived the employer’s attempt to get it thrown out before trial. The court rejected the employer’s argument that there was a lack of evidence of retaliation on its part.
It takes a lot of time and effort to deal with Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) issues, especially intermittent leave, says HR Manager Barbara Dahlen. Her pragmatic approach works, although she says she’s "not the most popular person" in her workplace. Dahlen says she’s "not a lawyer and doesn’t play one on TV." But […]
By Kelly Smith-Haley, JD, Fox, Swibel, Levin & Carroll, LLP A recent case from a federal court judge in Chicago provides a useful overview of certain statutes that rarely make headlines but nevertheless set the bar for nursing mothers. So dust off the breast pump, spruce up the office lactation room, and settle in for […]
If United wants to fly to San Francisco, it may have to comply with the City’s controversial new domestic partners ordinance, warned a Board of Supervisors committee. In December, the Board voted to do business only with contractors who provide their employees with domestic partner benefits. (See CEA December 1996.) United does not currently do […]
By BLR Founder and CEO Bob Brady Our recent column about forbidden interview questions asked readers to send in some examples, and send you did! This week we’ll share your horror stories and in a future issue, the “good” questions and comments. So here are the worst or most humorous questions readers submitted: “If you […]
Conflict resolution. Sometimes it seems that’s all we do. Today, we follow up on yesterday’s story on mediation, and present a new audio conference that helps line supervisors and managers learn how to do it right. With the high costs of litigation, mediation is an increasingly popular way to deal with conflicts at work. However, […]