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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 […]
Although technology-based training is becoming increasingly popular, training experts agree that it will never completely replace classroom training. At present, an overwhelming number of companies continue to use classroom training alongside an increasing amount of technology-based training, such as e-learning and computer-based training. Today, there is an array of techniques, methods, activities, and training aids […]
Classroom training is a workplace learning strategy that removes employees from the work area and brings them together in a safe and appropriate environment, free from distractions, to teach skills, transfer information and knowledge, shape attitudes and behavior, and build competencies. Training in the classroom, of course, is only one of many workplace training options. […]
Oswald, CEO of BLR, offered these thoughts on Lincoln, leadership, and opportunity in a recent edition of The Oswald Letter: It’s Lincoln’s second item—opportunities will present themselves—that I believe is most overlooked by those supposedly seeking opportunity. Often we are looking so hard for a certain opportunity or for opportunity to look a specific way […]
In yesterday’s Advisor, we presented the first six of BLR Legal Editor Holly Jones’ top 10 apps to improve HR productivity. Today, four more of her apps, plus an introduction to a unique HR trainer that divides training into handy 10-minute bites. App #7. Checklists and To-Do Lists Apps such as Wunderlist (www.wunderlist.com) and Checkmark […]
Federal agencies just issued new final rules for contingency-based wellness program goals under health reform. If employers offer to give a reward (such as discounted health insurance premiums) to workers who accomplish some kind of biometric goal (a contingency standard), then employers must have a standing “reasonable alternative” to the contingency-based standard, government officials told […]
What myths are being exposed by big data? According to a recent article in The Economist, “number-crunching has uncovered some surprising correlations.” For example, Evolv, a company that works with big data, found that: Employees who, when filling out their online applications, used a browser that didn’t come standard on their computer (software they had […]