Practical HR Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
The California Supreme Court has issued an important decision that makes it clear that employers cannot restrain an employee’s ability to compete, regardless of how reasonable or narrow the restrictions. As a result of this ruling, employers should do a thorough review of their employment agreements to ensure they do not contain unlawful noncompetition provisions.
Employment law attorney Michael Maslanka reviews the book It Takes More Than a Carrot and a Stick: Practical Ways for Getting Along with People You Can’t Avoid at Work by Wess Roberts, Ph.D. Book explains faultfinders, or the self-righteous employees, and how employers can handle those employees. Wess Roberts, Ph.D., divides It Takes More Than […]
Diversity consultants want to get your managers to bare their true feelings about race, gender, and sexual preference. “That’s a very dangerous approach,” says today’s expert. Beware of diversity training that’s really a therapy session, encounter group, or other forum for employees to “let it all hang out,” says attorney Lindsay Harris. Harris is senior […]
by Brian Smeenk Just as Americans are considering how much change will occur in the context of the current election season, lots of change is happening north of the 49th parallel in the labor and employment field. Not the least of which, from the perspective of this publication, is a change in law firm affiliation. […]
BusinessWeek ranks business books that are the most recent bestsellers and provides a short summary. 1. StrengthsFinder 2.0: A New and Upgraded Edition of the Online Test from Gallup’s Now, Discover Your Strengths by Tom Rath. Are you unsure where your true talents lie? Do you feel that you are both a person who gets […]
With GPS technology, we can know where—exactly where—our employees are, 24/7. Is it an invasion of privacy to ask questions based on that information? Today’s expert sorts out the issues and offers practical advice. Employer surveillance of employee activities using global positioning system (GPS) or similar technology should not violate employee privacy if it’s used […]
by Kara Shea We’ve received many questions lately from employers facing tremendous pressure to reduce their operating expenses. Some proposed cost-cutting efforts implicate various employment laws. Since things may get worse before they get better, I’m undertaking a series of articles to address some of the issues you may encounter in the months ahead. I’ll […]
The world is fully in Olympics mode, including our friends in Scranton, who are surely reliving their own Games of the First Dunder-Mifflin Olympiad. In the episode from the second season, Jim and Pam entertain themselves (while Dwight and Michael are away buying Michael’s condo) by throwing objects into Dwight’s coffee mug. They discover that […]
A few of our employees call in sick on a semi-regular basis with legitimate but unpredictable health issues relating to conditions like epilepsy and asthma. Is this time off covered by FMLA/CFRA? The employees can’t give us much advance notice because their symptoms come on so suddenly. —Anonymous Many employers struggle with whether absences due […]
By BLR Founder and CEO Bob Brady Spying on employees can take many forms, some of which are very intrusive. Yet, most employers do spy some, and so do we, says BLR’s founder and CEO Bob Brady. A series of postings in Workforce Management began a few months ago when the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reported that […]