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Peer Group ‘Arms Race’ for Executive Pay?

Peer Group ‘Arms Race’  Boyd, a researcher at Boston-based compensation consultant Equilar, says that pay ratcheting is a concern when companies compare themselves to their peer group. “For instance, you decide to set your CEO’s pay above the median of the peer group. Then other companies see that figure and want to set their CEO […]

PTO for charity work: You give a little, they take a lot?

by Susan Hartmus Hiser Q Our company’s production work generally gets slow in the summer, and the company’s owner is a longtime proponent of charity work. Rather than giving employees extra vacation time in the summer or even laying them off, he would like to start offering a week of paid time off (PTO) to […]

Build Your Team and Increase Engagement with Gamification

By Karen Hsu Are you looking to boost employee engagement at your workplace? Lack of engagement is a big problem in the modern workforce, but gamification can help trainers and HR professionals find the data they need and increase engagement. For some helpful tips, we present an article by Karen Hsu, vice president of marketing at Badgeville, […]

investigations

Pregnancy Accommodation: A Q&A with Susan Fentin

The EEOC just settled a case against a convenience store chain operator with stores in Texas and New Mexico for a whopping $950,000. The EEOC claimed the company had discriminated against pregnant workers by subjecting them to different working conditions—and also told the workers they would not have been hired had the company known about […]

Could ‘Workism’ Be Killing Your Culture?

It’s no question that for most of us, what we do and where we do it are key elements of our identity. After all, if we’re working 40 hours per week, that means about half of our waking lives is spent working, and for many professionals, it’s much more—not to mention the amount of time […]

onboarding

Why Employees Leave in the First 90 Days

Finding the right employee can be extremely difficult, particularly in an economy with a historically low unemployment rate, when potential employees can often pick and choose between a number of labor-starved employers. Not only is it difficult—it’s expensive.

Monitoring Your Employees? Understand the Pros and Cons

Employers have long used employee monitoring techniques to understand what workers do all day. Reasons for monitoring run the gamut from keeping an eye out for thieves and slackers to discovering ways to improve processes, ultimately leading to increased efficiency. Those reasons remain, but the rise of remote work has created even more interest in […]

What the 32-Hour Workweek Can Mean for the United States

The 4-day workweek (32 hours at 8 hours/day x 4 days/week) recently has come back into major discussion. The latest brick in the wall is researchers at Boston College, think tank Autonomy, and Oxford and Cambridge Universities wrapping up the largest research study to put that question to the test, with 61 companies and 2,900 […]

Hostile Environment: How Mishandling A Harassment Complaint Cost One Employer $894,000

  In April, we reported how a savvy employer successfully defended itself against a wrongful termination claim by conducting a thorough investigation and review of the facts before making the decision to terminate. This month, we look at a case in which an employer had ample opportunities to protect an employee from harassment but didn’t-because […]

Finding Balance in the Struggle to Bring Entry-level Employees On Board

The talk among both employers and jobseekers increasingly seems to be focusing on struggle. Employers bemoan a dearth of qualified candidates, while young jobseekers who are just beginning to launch their careers voice frustration. Recent research has found that well under half of new college graduates are finding jobs in their field. Are the jobseekers […]