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Sales Comp and Unintended Consequences

Setting sales comp sounds simple, but it’s easy to get it wrong, and that can be costly. Carelessly designed programs can have disastrous, unintended consequences. For example: If salespeople don’t view your program as competitive, your best salespeople will seek greener pastures. If salespeople don’t view your program as fair, there will be morale issues. […]

Hot List: Bestselling “Business Life” books on Amazon.com

Amazon.com updates its list of the bestselling books every hour. Here is a snapshot of what is hot right now, this Monday morning, March 7, in the “Business Life” section of the “Business and Investing” category. 1. The Rules of Work, Expanded Edition: A Definitive Code for Personal Success (Richard Templar’s Rules) by Richard Templar. […]

Accommodating Disabled Employees: New Case Says Union Contract Doesn’t Have To Bend To ADA Accommodations; Tips On Avoiding Problems

Last year, the federal Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that under the Americans with Disabilities Act, a seniority system must give way to accommodations unless they cause an undue hardship. The case involved an employer-created seniority system, but it left open the question of its application to seniority provisions contained in union contracts. Now, […]

NLRB nominees face opposition during Senate committee hearing

On May 16, President Barack Obama’s nominees to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) went before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, and the two nominees who were selected as recess appointees in 2012 failed to impress the committee’s ranking member, Senator Lamar Alexander. Alexander (R-Tennessee) said he would oppose the nominations of […]

Fake ‘Labor Commissioner’ Gets 16 Months in Prison

An Alhambra man who posed as a California deputy labor commissioner in an alleged attempt to extort money from his former employer, Temple City-based Jayco Acceptance Corp., has been sentenced to 16 months in prison after entering a plea of no contest to charges of obtaining funds through false pretenses. Representing himself to be the […]

Wellness on a Shoestring—Programs that Any Boss Will Fund

Most everyone in HR is convinced that wellness programs are cost effective and good for the organization (and the employees), but that doesn’t mean that management wants to shell out for wellness. Today we share low- and no-cost wellness tips. First, from the Fort Worth Business Press, Jacqueline Benavidez, a client wellness coordinator at McQueary […]

Survey Says: Dramatic Increase in Benefits for Part-Timers

By Stephen Bruce, PhD, PHR Just My E-pinion Our recent survey Benefits for Part-Time Employees indicates a dramatic increase in the number of organizations that offer benefits to part-time employees. In addition, 28 percent of respondents report an increase in the number of part-time employees. Looks like part-time work is coming of age. Nearly all […]

How Can Wage/Hour Bring Us Down? How Hard Is It?

Yesterday’s Advisor featured common—and egregious—wage/hour missteps; today, four more, plus an introduction to the simple-to-use, popular guide that answers all your FLSA questions. [Go here for failures 1 to 3] 4. Providing inaccurate or falsified payroll records to the government Obviously, providing falsified records is not a wise practice. However, many submitted records are merely […]

Health and Safety : What You and Your Employees Need to Know About Workplace Fire Safety

The largest single settlement Cal/ OSHA ever collected—$462,000—was for a work-related fire. In 1999, Tosco Refining Co. was cited for 33 alleged violations of state workplace safety regulations as a result of a fatal fire at its Avon plant near Martinez. Thankfully, most workplaces won’t experience such tragedies, but even so, OSHA reports that workplace […]