Practical HR Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
It doesn’t seem to make sense: Employers complain of a lack of suitable applicants despite being inundated with a glut of highly educated jobseekers. Applicants are confused, too. A recent study from McKinsey & Company’s Center for Government found that 44 percent of young U.S. jobseekers included in a survey weren’t sure that their postsecondary […]
by Sophie E. Zdatny Recently, the Employers Counsel Network (ECN) met in Alexandria, Virginia, where several notable speakers stopped by to provide their insights on current developments in the employment arena at the national level and to share their predictions for President Barack Obama’s second term. The first post looked at the personnel turnover at […]
Have you ever had an employee miss work only to give you a far-fetched reason for their absence? A recent survey touched on a few odd excuses, like being too distraught after watching The Hunger Games. This SBT reader, who works in the construction industry, had a similar experience. The employee in question had an […]
A family-owned business recently got tangled up in a lawsuit when the HR manager accused her brother, one of the vice presidents, of having an illicit affair with a subordinate employee that created “sexual favoritism” in the workplace. Did she have a case? Here’s what happened. “Sandra” worked as an HR manager in Howard I. […]
Sure, you’ve seen typos and misspellings in a job description, and you think they could have just run spell-check. But did you ever see the name of the employer misspelled? This could just be a minor embarrassment to an employer and something that could quickly be corrected. The Hartford Courant Capitol Watch blog reports that […]
Pay budget—always one of the most critical decisions of the year. What’s happening with pay budgets in the real world? How about bonuses? What are your competitors up to? Help us find out! Please participate in our brief survey and see how what you are doing stacks up against what other successful companies are doing. […]
Series Litigation Value: various harassment, discrimination, and bizarre workers’ compensation matters = astronomical; future employment matters due to Dwight taking over as Regional Manager = enough to keep Dunder Mifflin’s attorneys busy for many years to come; seeing the older, hopefully wiser, family man version of Michael in the final episode = priceless. After years […]
Final rules from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on employment-based wellness programs raise the maximum reward that may be offered by certain wellness programs and expand nondiscrimination protections for sick employees. The final rules under President Barack Obama’s Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act were issued May 29 and will be effective […]
Can big data solve your HR problems? The important thing to remember is that the basis of big data is statistics, and you have to be careful interpreting results. So-called confounding variables may muddy the waters. For example: History can intervene. The measurement may have been accurate, but things changed during the measuring period and […]
At the 2013 National Institute for Storage Tank Management’s (NISTM) recent storage tank conference, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) gave a really detailed, 3-hour review of SPCC regulations and best practices. Here are some things I picked up that I bet you didn’t know about the SPCC. 1. Emergency and backup generators count toward […]