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The End of Non-Competes? What HR Professionals Need to Know About the FTC’s Latest Ruling

Non-compete agreements, often used to protect business interests by restricting the ability of employees to enter into competition with their former employers, have been a staple in employment contracts for years. As detailed in our previous discussion on non-compete agreements published on March 4, 2024, these agreements are designed to safeguard trade secrets and investments […]

What’s an FMLA ‘Qualifying Exigency’?

by Robert P. Tinnin, Jr. Q. In January of this year, amendments to the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) became effective, adding certain types of leave for family members to help relatives serving in the military. I understand the leave is available for a “qualifying exigency.” What is that? I recently had an employee […]

Hard Sell: The Evolution of a Viagra Salesman

Resources for Humans editor Celeste Blackburn reviews the book “Hard Sell: The Evolution of a Viagra Salesman” by Jamie Reidy and finds it an interesting read, but one more likely to give HR professionals nightmares about slacking employees than offering real solutions to problems. In his “behind-the-scenes look at pharmaceutical sales and the most talked-about […]

Take control of your time in five minutes or less

by Dan Oswald We live in a world where everything moves fast and is interconnected. There was a time when 20 miles may have represented an entire day’s journey. Now we can travel that distance in less than 20 minutes. And information moves even faster. We learn about things that are occurring halfway around the […]

Court Restores Accommodation Claim for Employee with Pending Leave Request

Once an employee requests an accommodation, their employer has a duty to engage in an “interactive process” to try to determine whether they can accommodate the disability. With that in mind, employers should take note of this recent decision from the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals (which covers Tennessee, Ohio, Kentucky, and Michigan). The […]

expectations

How to Maximize the Impact of Performance Appraisals

Many companies struggle with performance reviews. Modern performance appraisal methods typically consist of scheduled interviews, compensation discussions, and self-evaluation. When necessary, reviewers also offer ways for underperforming employees to improve.

background checks

Criminal Background Checks: A Matter of Risk, Reputation, and Requirements for Employers

The process of commissioning a pre-employment criminal background search has tripped up many an employer, and for good reason. Criminal background checks can include many data points—arrest records, conviction orders, sentencing, appeals, inmate records and activities logged in sex offender or state abuse registries to name a few—stored in a wide array of locations ranging […]

Speech, Safety, and the Law: Managing Political Expression in Today’s Workplace 

Political debate isn’t just prevalent in the news or social media — it’s in Slack channels, office kitchens, and embroidered onto work attire. For HR professionals, this rising trend of political discourse raises a critical challenge: how do you balance employees’ rights to express political views with your responsibility to maintain a respectful, legally compliant […]

Is Your Check Culture Light On?

There is a lot of talk surrounding company culture, which is important. A company’s culture is the revving engine behind any successful organization. Keeping with the motor metaphor, companies like to discuss what type of “engine” they want powering their car. They carefully craft and tinker these “engines,” and once they’re done, they shut the […]