Practical HR Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
In yesterday’s Advisor, we got attorney Audra Hamilton’s take on mental disability accommodation. Today, her examples of accommodation in action, plus an introduction to BLR’s popular pre-written policy collection, SmartPolicies. Hamilton’s remarks came at BLR’s Advanced Employment Issues Symposium, held recently in Nashville, Tennessee. Hamilton practices law in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Accommodation Example #1: Depression John […]
Reimbursement rates for lodging, meals and incidental expenses for fiscal year 2013, which begins Oct. 1, will be frozen at FY 2012 levels, the U.S. General Services Administration announced Aug. 27. GSA is the arm of the federal government that sets travel policy for federal employees. The reimbursement rates, commonly called per diems, determine the […]
By Stephen D. Bruce, PHR Editor, HR Daily Advisor Just My E-pinion Travel is critical for conducting business, or is it? We surveyed our readers to see what they have done with their travel and relocation budgets during the economic crunch. We found, for example, that two thirds of respondents have reduced travel, and half […]
Sounds like the beginning of a bad joke, right? A decision by a federal district court in Minnesota provided a punch line and it turns out it’s not so funny. According to the court in Fries v. TRI Marketing Corp., an employee can claim Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) protection when two health conditions […]
We have several employees who have exhausted their leave time under FMLA/CFRA, but now we’re wondering if we have to accommodate them for additional time since they may be considered “disabled” under the ADA. How do we determine whether they’re in fact disabled, and, if so, how long do we have to allow these employees […]
We recently reported on California’s plan to amend the wage rules to drop the requirement of paying overtime after eight hours in a day, in favor of the federal law that requires overtime pay only after 40 hours in a week. However, some other changes are also in the works. Here’s what you should know.
By Stephen D. Bruce, PHR Editor, HR Daily Advisor It’s important to seek an employee’s explanation for a policy violation before you discipline, says attorney Allison West, as this story true story illustrates. Sometimes You May Be Surprised West, who is principal of Employment Practices Specialists in Pacifica, California, says that you always want to […]
“Frontline supervisors are terrified by the idea of conflict,” says Dennis A. Davis, Ph.D., “but [it] is a normal part of the work environment.” Fortunately, he says, careful management of conflict can be successful in reducing or eliminating it. When conflict festers, productivity suffers and the negativity spreads, Davis says. Unfortunately, without training, supervisors just […]
A New York-based company that refurbishes cell phones at its factory in Long Island will pay $435,000 to settle a wage discrimination and retaliation suit brought by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). The agency charged that First Wireless Group, Inc., engaged in a pattern or practice of race and/or national origin discrimination against […]
An employee has been copying pornographic images off the Internet and showing them to co-workers. Another has been using company e-mail to distribute racist jokes. And several others have downloaded some hot new software onto their office PCs-violating federal copyright laws. It’s bad enough these employees are surfing the Net instead of working. But you […]