Practical HR Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
According to a new survey by Quest Diagnostics Inc., the country’s largest drug-test processor, drug use in the workplace has significantly declined. In 1988, 13.6% of employment-related drug tests were positive. By last year, however, just 4.6% of the approximately 6 million tests conducted by the company turned up positive. The study also reveals that […]
On Friday, August 12, the Eleventh U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta held 2-1 that the individual health insurance mandate provision found in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), the comprehensive health care reform legislation that President Barack Obama signed into law in March 2010, is unconstitutional. More specifically, the court found […]
A hearing-impaired worker in Los Angeles who requested a sign language interpreter for meetings–and instead was allegedly told by her supervisors to read lips and try harder–will receive $100,000 to settle her claim that her employer failed to accommodate her under the Americans with Disabilities Act. In a confidential settlement, the government employer also agreed […]
We have a service repair technician who is required to repair 12 instruments a year, but due to a 3-month Family and Medical Leave Act absence was only able to repair 6. May we view him as an unsatisfactory performer and reduce his merit raise?
Here is the Wall Street Journal’s Kyle Stock’s list of 5 books to read in 2011 to help improve your work life. 1. Getting More: How to Negotiate to Achieve Your Goals in the Real World by Stuart Diamond. Practitioner, professor, and Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Diamond uses his 40 years of experience as an […]
We hear a lot in the news these days about the historically low unemployment rate, but one figure we don’t hear about nearly as much is the labor force participation rate—the ratio between the size of the labor force and the size of the overall population for that age group, often grouped by cohort (i.e., […]
What’s the best approach for online recruiting—outside websites or your own career site? We turn to HR Hero’s Technology for HR guidebook for tips on achieving online success. Recruiting on the Internet It is not an overstatement to say that the internet has totally revolutionized how people find jobs. If you are not currently using […]
A new U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) rule gives employers some relief regarding their ability to reduce or eliminate retirees’ healthcare benefits once they become eligible for Medicare. Such a reduction or elimination will not violate the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), the federal statute that prohibits age-based discrimination, the new rule states. […]
Patricia Shiu, director of the U.S. Department of Labor‘s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP), delivered the keynote speech at the annual meeting of federal contractors and OFCCP representatives for the National Industry Liaison Group on July 27 in New Orleans. The key portions of Shiu’s speech, in which she provided important updates on […]
Traditionally, succession planning focused on an orderly transition at the top of the company. Today, the focus is on dealing with the coming “brain drain” most companies will experience as Baby Boomers begin to retire.