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News Flash: Drug Testing

Virginia Menge, a school bus driver employed by the San Ramon Valley Unified School District, was placed on leave after allegedly failing a random urine drug test by testing positive for nitrate, a substance which can alter test results. The drug testing agency refused Menge’s request to have the urine sample retested. Menge then resigned, […]

Court Multiplies Award, Saying Insurer Profited from Denial

Rather than merely finding that an individual was entitled to benefits due, a federal appeals court ordered an insurer to pay a large monetary award under ERISA based on the equitable theories of unjust enrichment and disgorgement of ill-gotten profits. The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals held that the insurer used money it should […]

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March Madness ‘Office Pool’ for Laid-Off Workers Lets Them Join in Fun

While laid-off workers really miss their paychecks and benefits, downsized employees are down about something else this time of year—missing the March Madness office pool.. However, outplacement solutions provider RiseSmart® is busy collecting brackets of participants in its second “RiseSmart Challenge,” an alternative program that serves as a fun way to help unemployed workers take […]

BusinessWeek’s Bestseller List

BusinessWeek ranks business books that are the most recent bestsellers and provides a short summary. 1. The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life by Alice Schroeder. The author is a former Morgan Stanley insurance analyst who had unprecedented access to the legendary investor during her five years of research. The resulting book is […]

Managers Think It’s All About the Money (Employees Disagree)

Special from the Advanced Employment Issues Symposium, Las Vegas When employees and their managers are asked about what they value at work, the answers are surprisingly different, says consultant Andrew Botwin SPHR. That disconnect will result in expensive turnover. Botwin, who is CEO of SPC (Strategy People Culture) Consulting, offered his engagement tips at BLR’s […]

Announcing a Special BLR Audio Conference: The Challenges of an Aging Workforce

Solving the worker shortage by retaining your older workers brings many benefits, but an aging workforce also raises several challenges. An April 25 audio conference will tell you what you need to know. To anyone charged with filling office seats and production workstations, the numbers are frightening. The Baby Boom generation, just starting to reach […]

E-Alert Item: Employee Records: Government Cuts Back on Number of Social Security “No-Match” Letters to Be Sent This Year

When an employee’s name or Social Security number differs from information in the Social Security Administration’s records, the agency sends out a “no-match” letter to notify the employer of the discrepancy. In a change from past years, the agency plans to send no-match letters only if an employer has more than 10 employees with mismatched […]

All Quiet on the Transparency Front: Fees Still a Mystery and Hospital Quality Data Spotty

Have you asked your doctor or dentist to see his fee schedule? When I did so once, a dentist refused, saying in effect: “my prices are higher, but that’s what you need to get my quality advantage.” What’s a consumer to do? A similar relation exists between large employers and institutional providers (hospitals.) The lack […]

Dwindling NLRB Takes Step Toward Quicker Union Elections

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is moving ahead with a plan to allow for quicker elections on union representation even as Congress considers legislation aimed at thwarting the Board’s proposed rule. The NLRB met on November 30 to decide on a resolution from Board Chairman Mark Gaston Pearce on whether to adopt some of […]

Hot List: New York Times Bestselling Paperback Business Books

The following is a list of the bestselling paperback business books as ranked by the New York Times on February 7. 1. The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference by Malcolm Gladwell. How and why certain products and ideas become fads. 2. Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of […]