Month: February 2008

Employees Hold the Key to Employers’ Data Security

by Mark Wiletsky It has become almost commonplace to hear that a government agency or private corporation has been the victim of a data security breach. As a result, hundreds of customers’ or employees’ personal data is at risk of being used for criminal purposes such as identity theft. Approximately 70 percent of those breaches […]

Employers May Challenge Suspicious FMLA Leave Requests

by Kara Shea The following case provides some hope for employers that find themselves continually dealing with suspicious leave requests under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). It shows that you don’t have to accept a medical certification form at face value. HR Guide to Employment Law: A practical compliance reference manual covering 14 […]

FMLA Changes Announced: What’s New, What to Do

In light of important new rules on the FMLA that government announced Monday, we’re foregoing our usual column to bring you this HRDA News Extra. At a recent HR conference, a speaker said, “Let’s talk about how to manage intermittent leave.” He paused, and then laughed, as did the audience. That’s been the prevailing attitude […]

Retaliation: 6 Steps to Prevent It

Yesterday’s Advisor talked about one of the dumbest, yet most prevalent, management actions—retaliation. Today, let’s talk about how to prevent it. Let’s admit it—nothing feels as good as planning retaliation. And nothing can make you feel as bad if you actually go through with it. So what can you do to stop managers from acting […]

The Truth About Hiring the Best

Employment law attorney Michael Maslanka reviews the book The Truth about Hiring the Best by Cathy Fyock. The review highlights a few of the book’s truths about hiring, interviewing, and dealing with employee relations. Looking to pick up the latest thinking on hiring? Pick up The Truth About Hiring the Best (Truth About), a quick […]

Employee Attitude Survey Can Get You the Inside Story–For Free

Ever wonder what your employees are thinking about their jobs, supervisors, promotion opportunities, teamwork, and other important workplace issues? Now you can find out, through the complimentary National Employee Attitude Survey. Employers can sign up to participate in the survey program that will benchmark their employees’ responses to a written questionnaire to answers from employees […]

Retaliation: The Dumbest Thing Managers Do

What, someone filed a complaint about me? No one gets away with that! Whoever it is will be sorry! Sound like any of your managers? Tell them that, whatever it is, get over it! Retaliation is a platinum invitation to a lawsuit. If you haven’t trained your managers to avoid retaliation, it’s likely that one […]

DOL Issues Long-Awaited Proposed FMLA Regs

After many years of promising changes to the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) regulations, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) last week issued new proposed regulations in an attempt to address some of the most common criticisms employers have about the previously issued final FMLA regulations. (You can view the proposed regulations at www.HRhero.com/fmla_update.pdf.) […]

Effective and Streamlined Bargaining Preparation

by Daniel Pugen McCarthy Tetrault It’s been a cold, wintry start to 2008 (at least in Canada). The cobwebs from New Year’s Eve have passed and New Years’ resolutions already have been broken. As February began, the groundhog indicated six more weeks of winter and Ontario employees were counting down the days until Family Day […]