Month: December 2011

Lessons from the Duck Blind

This past weekend, my son and I went duck hunting. Despite growing up in a rural area in the Midwest where hunting was a way of life, I never cared for it when I was young. Among the reasons was that it was brutally cold in Iowa in the winter. But, my 15-year-old son has […]

Vermont Minimum Wage Rising to $8.46 Per Hour

The minimum wage in Vermont will increase to $8.46 per hour from $8.15 per hour on January 1, 2012, according to a statement from the Vermont Department of Labor. The state minimum wage increases at the same rate as the Consumer Price Index, as calculated in August, for the preceding year or at five percent, […]

Could Layoffs Equal a Class Action?

This should come as no shock, but people don’t like to get fired. And when they do get fired, they look for someone else to blame. Guess who? “You fired me because I’m X (fill in the blank with the name of a protected class).”

Supreme Court Clamps Down on ‘Second Kicks at the Can’ in B.C. Human Rights Claims

By Clayton Jones and Derek Knoechel A growing frustration for Canadian employers is the need to defend against human rights claims arising out of the same factual circumstances in multiple forums. Discrimination claims that are presumptively dealt with by a labor arbitrator can resurface as virtually identical claims before a human rights tribunal. While most […]

Danger: Casual Background Checks on Social Media

Special from the Advanced Employment Issues Symposium, Las Vegas The biggest mistake I see managers making is failure to document, says attorney Molly DiBianca, member of the Employers Counsel Network (BLR/M. Lee Smith’s network of attorneys from all 50 states). And the number two mistake is casual background checks on social media. DiBianca’s remarks came at […]

HHS: States to Determine Minimum Health Benefits Under Health Reform

There are 50 states and a few territories, and now there could be that many versions of essential benefit plans under federal health reform. That’s because the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is shunning a centralized approach to dictating “how much health coverage is enough;” that is, what needs to be covered […]

DOWNER: Transit benefit capped at $125/month starting Jan. 1

Your employees might be disappointed when they learn their tax exempt transit benefits are no longer $230 next month. Commuter benefits for mass transit are a top benefit offered by companies. But the monthly $230 cap for mass transit is set to be cut nearly in half to $125 a month in just six days – […]

Merry Mifflin

Litigation Value: Lots and lots of coal in everybody’s stockings! Last night’s episode of The Office was a repeat of the night we were introduced to Pam’s temporary replacement, Kathy. Since my colleague Josh Drexler ably covered that episode when it aired a few weeks ago, I thought I’d just take this opportunity to look […]

Complying with ADA Regulations for Web Accessibility

Whether engaging in a specific project, such as working with IT to incorporate text-to-speech readers or other assistive technology in your online environment, or carrying out the seemingly simple task of adjusting your hiring and recruiting page, you must be up to date on Web access for disabled employees and applicants. Are you aware of […]

Top 10 Most Popular Leadership Articles for 2011

As we reach the end of 2011, we take a look back of some of your favorite articles. Here’s a list of the top 10 leadership posts on the HR Daily Advisor website this year. Happy Holidays from the HR Daily Advisor staff–Steve, Rafael, Denise, Allison, and Amanda.< When Two Employees Hate Each Other What […]