Practical HR Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
In requesting documentation to back up an accommodation request, employers should specify what types of information they are seeking regarding the disability, its functional limitations, and the need for reasonable accommodation. The employee can be asked to sign a limited release allowing the employer to submit a list of specific questions to the healthcare professional.
by Dan Oswald Have you ever known someone who was incredibly intelligent but had absolutely no common sense? I’ve known a few. So the other day when a colleague was describing to me a book he came across that contained “cowboy logic” and the line, “I’ve learned that common sense ain’t so common,” it got […]
When dealing with California final pay laws, the details are where it gets tricky. For example, if an employee resigns with two weeks’ notice, normally you would have until the employee’s last day to provide the final paycheck—but what if you want to ask the employee to not work the notice period? When is the […]
Although defined benefit pension plan sponsors have engaged investment managers for years, it’s only recently that defined contribution plan sponsors have begun exploring this option to limit liability risk for their fiduciary role. “Because employers want to avoid litigation, which could result in personal liability for investment committee members, many plan sponsors are seeking ways […]
Talent management isn’t about software, says consultant Ron Katz. That’s just a tool. And it’s not about hiring or succession planning. It’s about positioning the organization to move powerfully in a positive way. To do that sometimes you have to use a hammer as a screwdriver, he says. Katz made his comments at BLR’s Strategic […]
Leadership expert John Hamm, author of Unusually Excellent: The Necessary Nine Skills Required for the Practice of Great Leadership (Jossey-Bass/A Wiley Imprint, February 2011, www.unusuallyexcellent.com ), has spent his career studying the practitioners of unusually excellent leadership via his work as a CEO, venture capitalist, board member, high-level consultant, and professor of leadership at the […]
By Kyla Stott-Jess A recent Alberta Court of Appeal case, 581257 Alberta Ltd. v. Aujla, is good news for employers. The court reversed the normal onus of proof, requiring the employees to prove that certain monies they deposited into their bank account were not stolen from their employer.
Most employers would agree that STEM careers—jobs in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics—are on the upswing in both numbers and importance. Most also would agree that there are far more men than women in STEM jobs. A 2011 report from the U.S. Department of Commerce, “Women in STEM: A Gender Gap to Innovation,” signals a […]
by Mark I. Schickman I keep waiting for the day that employment discrimination claims disappear. We spend a ton of time training employees to prevent and avoid discriminatory conduct, and the proper behavior is pretty intuitive. So, logically, employment discrimination should have been eradicated, like polio and smallpox. It would be terrible for my business […]
by Robert P. Tinnin, Jr. Q I recently read a newspaper article concerning a lawsuit filed in federal court in Albuquerque by an Intel employee who is suing his employer for race-based harassment and intentional infliction of emotional distress. Coworkers secretly taped a “kick me” sign to his back and then kicked him as others […]