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Do You Need a Twitter/Facebook/YouTube Policy?

Social Media—The bane of management or the next best marketing tool? Should you control it or encourage it? Of course, the answers depend on your business and your culture, but here’s a sample policy to get you going. This policy is one of several sample social media policies we found at HR.BLR.com®. This policy is […]

DOL Offers Disabled Job Candidate Database

The Department of Labor (DOL) has made available to employers a free database of nearly 2,000 job candidates with disabilities seeking employment in a wide variety of fields. The Workforce Recruitment Program for College Students with Disabilities compiled the database by sending recruiters to college campuses across the country to interview eligible undergraduate and postgraduate […]

‘Free Choice Act’ Is Deceptive Labeling, Lawyer Says

Attorney Phillip Russell, a speaker at the upcoming National Employment Law Update conference, says the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) is laden with pitfalls for employers and employees alike. Heading toward passage? While many experts predict that the EFCA will pass Congress and become law—even in modified form—some are deriding the Act as a case […]

IRS Doesn’t Want to Play High-low Anymore

The IRS announced July 19 that it intends to eliminate a set of alternative per diem rates called the “high-low” rates, which the federal government — and at their discretion, private employers — use to reimburse employees for meals and incidental expenses they incur while on business travel. In Announcement 2011-42, the IRS said it had […]

360 Reviews Are Badly Needed, as People Do Tend to Be Self-Delusional

By BLR Founder and CEO Bob Brady The article title was one of the many responses to Bob Brady’s column of March 19, which asked for readers’ thoughts on 360 reviews. The results of his survey show that the practice is relatively common, but isn’t universally perceived as "great." One hundred and sixty-one readers participated […]

EEOC Proposes Using EEO-1 Report to Collect Pay Data

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the U.S. Department of Labor recently published a proposal to revise the EEO-1 reporting form in order to annually collect summary pay data by gender, race, and ethnicity from businesses with 100 or more employees. A copy of the proposed form is available on the EEOC’s website.

IRS Standard Mileage Rates Drop a Half-cent

Employers whose employees use their own vehicles business can now adjust their reimbursement forms and procedures for 2014, since the IRS released the standard mileage rates for the year in Notice 2013-80 on Dec. 6. The IRS also adjusted the reimbursement rate for miles driven for medical purposes or a relocation, also by half a […]

Connecticut Releases Guidance on State’s Paid Sick Leave Law

by Jonathan C. Sterling Earlier this year, Connecticut became the first state to enact a law that requires employers to provide paid sick leave for employees. The law takes effect January 1, and the Connecticut Department of Labor recently published guidance on its website to assist employers in complying with the new law. Read the […]

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DOL Investigators See Double

A Texas printing company has paid over $100,000 for allegedly violating the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Investigators reported that the company used two different time clocks and were under contract by two separate staffing firms. An investigation conducted by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division’s Dallas District Office determined that the […]

Traveling with coworkers

Hit the Road to a Better Understanding of Your Colleagues

Have you ever noticed how traveling with someone helps you really get to know them? In 1976, my mother, two siblings, and I embarked on a trip across the country with my grandparents. My father, what a wise man he was, somehow avoided this particular trip. The six of us spent two weeks together “on […]