Month: July 2013

Q&A on Doing Business in Canada

Doing business in Canada requires understanding how Canadian employment law differs from US. For example: Are hourly employees in Canada required to be paid overtime after 40 hours of work in a week, just like in the US? Is there paternity leave in Canada? What notice must an employer give an employee before terminating them? […]

Depression and other mental disabilities: Beware of assumptions

Dealing with depression and other mental disabilities in the workplace can be challenging. This is especially true if an employer also has to combat negative attitudes towards the affected employees that hinder compliance with the law. California employers need to be aware of assumptions and attitudes about emotional or mental disabilities that can lead to […]

HR Trends–What’s Hot and What’s Not

Dear Readers, With the constantly changing scope of social media, engagement, and analytics, it’s hard to stay on top of the latest trends in HR. How are your colleagues—and competitors—handling things out in the field? Please take a few minutes to complete this brief survey and help us (and you) find out what’s happening in […]

Do You Know How to Create an OSHA-Compliant Training Program?

Boost Compliance and Prevent Injuries,” speaker Michael Lawrence gave guidance on creating an OSHA-compliant safety training program. In the webinar, Lawrence suggested that an effective approach to creating an OSHA-compliant, injury-reducing safety training program involves four basic steps: Define the problem that you’re trying to correct through training. Identify the risks and protective measures. Develop […]

Train Managers to Be Proactive

Jathan Janove is an employment lawyer whose book, Managing to Stay out of Court (Berrett-Koehler/Society for Human Resource Management), includes the following proactive management tips that you can teach your managers and supervisors. ‘That Was Then, This Is Now’ is a good way to effect change in an organization. Grant amnesty for all past mistakes […]

3 Free Metrics for Comp Managers, Plus a Bonus

The three stats are released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), a branch of the U.S. Department of Labor (www.bls.gov). The bonus metric is released by The Conference Board, a private, nonprofit research organization. Average Hourly Earnings Payroll data. Each month, the BLS collects payroll data from records reported on a voluntary basis to […]

Do You Train Managers to Lean Forward?

Koehler/Society for Human Resource Management), explains the concept of skiing with your weight forward. In his introduction, Janove evokes the image of a beginning skier. Frightened of going too fast, he or she likely obeys the instinct to lean back on the skis. The truth is, however, that keeping the weight forward steadies the skier […]

Changes to West Virginia wage payment act go into effect today

by Susan Llewellyn Deniker Amendments to the West Virginia Wage Payment and Collection Act (WPCA) go into effect today, changing the rules on when discharged employees must be given their final paycheck. Under the old law, discharged employees had to be paid all wages owed within 72 hours of termination. This year, the legislature amended […]

Alabama guns-at-work law takes effect August 1

by Albert L. Vreeland Beginning August 1, employees with a valid Alabama concealed weapon permit may keep a firearm in their vehicles at work. Also, during hunting season, employees with a valid Alabama hunting license may store an unloaded rifle or shotgun in their vehicles at work. The change is a result of a law […]

Did he quit? Should he be fired? An unhappy employee poses a dilemma

An employee may think the grass is greener in a new job on the other side of the fence. Once in the new position, however, he may start longing for the good old days in his old job. What to do with such an employee can put an employer in a quandary. Recently, a group […]