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Delighted in Dayton: Bummed out in Boulder

Forbes recently commissioned online website CareerBliss to dive into its employee happiness data and determine which cities in the United State have the happiest workers—and which have the unhappiest. Here are the results: Cities with the Happiest Workers Rank City CareerBliss Score 1 Dayton, OH 4.02 out of 5 2 Knoxville, TN 4.02 out of 5 […]

Long-term unemployment seen holding back jobseekers

No law specifically says employers are prohibited from discriminating against job applicants who have been out of work for months or even years. The long-term unemployed don’t have protections spelled out in any antidiscrimination laws – or do they? When jobseekers are part of a protected class that has a disproportionate number of people unemployed, […]

Hiring Foreign Workers: Congress Ups Quota For H-1B Visas; Practical Impact

Grappling with a chronic shortage of computer programmers and other skilled workers, the high-tech industry successfully lobbied long and hard for an expansion of the H-1B visa program. Employers should face fewer delays in hiring foreign professionals now that Congress has raised the annual limit on H-1B work visas and changed the rules to make […]

Final Wellness Rule: Employers Must Offer Choices Among Health Goals, If Rewards Are Offered

Federal agencies just issued new final rules for contingency-based wellness program goals under health reform. If employers offer to give a reward (such as discounted health insurance premiums) to workers who accomplish some kind of biometric goal (a contingency standard), then employers must have a standing “reasonable alternative” to the contingency-based standard, government officials told […]

Tennessee Senate OK’s ‘guns in parking lots’ bill

Legislation giving handgun carry permit holders the right to keep guns in their vehicles in public parking lots, including their employer’s parking lot, passed the Tennessee Senate Monday evening, 28-5. The bill, which will go to the House Civil Justice Subcommittee Wednesday afternoon, would give civil immunity to employers for deaths, injuries, or damage involving […]

Is "Feelings" Training Next for Your Managers?

No one needs training to feel emotions around the Thanksgiving table, but how about around the conference table? Has the time come for emotional intelligence testing and training? “I wish I had a decoder for each relationship at the office.” “When one of my direct reports starts talking to me about her medical problems, I […]

How to Get a Seat at MY Table (CEO Talks to HR)

Special from the Advanced Employment Issues Symposium, Las Vegas If you want a seat at my table, you have to talk my language, and that’s the language of numbers and dollars, says Dan Oswald, BLR CEO and author of the Oswald Letter. Oswald offered his remarks at BLR’s Advanced Employment Issues Symposium under way this […]

Employment Law Tip: Direct Deposit—Don’t Force It

Direct payroll deposit can be a real timesaver for employers and employees alike. But did you know that California law prohibits employers from requiring employees to use direct deposit for their paychecks? Specifically, Labor Code Section 213 makes it clear that employers can use direct deposit, but only when the employee voluntarily authorizes it. Additional […]