Month: October 2013

How can employers reduce FMLA/CFRA abuse?

Employers have the right to curb FMLA/CFRA abuse, but must do so in a way that doesn’t hinder employees from taking their protected leaves. It can be a fine line to walk. Thankfully, employers do have some options.

Do Your Employees Know the Skills They Need for Professional Advancement?

Do your supervisors know the skills their employees need for professional advancement? Do they know how to delegate work and teach those skills to employees looking to advance in the organization? Here is some important information to convey to your supervisors. Skills needed for personal and organizational growth change constantly. That means offering appropriate training […]

Oklahoma workplace tobacco law revisions effective November 1

by Charles S. Plumb Effective November 1, 2013, two Oklahoma statutes governing how an employer addresses tobacco use in its workplace or by its employees will be revised. Under the new 21 Okla. Stat. § 1247, lighted tobacco products in any form are prohibited in indoor workplaces. With a few exceptions, this prohibition includes work […]

Linking pay raises to company tattoos: good idea or legal minefield?

by Peter A. Jones A New York employer offered its employees a 15 percent pay raise if they had the company logo tattooed on their bodies. Reportedly, there were no limitations on the size or location of the tattoo, and about 40 employees accepted the offer and are receiving raises after having been inked. There […]

Engagement and Enablement—Keys to Comp Effectiveness

McMullen is Reward Practice Leader for Hay Group in Chicago. He was joined by Dow Scott, Professor of Human Resources in the Quinlan School of Business Administration at Loyola University Chicago and president of Performance Development International, a management consulting firm. Their remarks came at the WorldatWork conference in Philadelphia. McMullen offers the following “equation” […]

Employee vs. Company: It’s a Dance Off

A few months ago we wrote about a pretty sweet way to resign. Literally. A man, an aspiring baker, whipped up a cake for his employers and used icing to pen his resignation. His tactic paid off, as a handful of media outlets picked up the story, putting him and his baking skills in the […]

Can Casino Impose Appearance Standards for ‘Borgata Babes’?

A group of female “costumed beverage servers,” who were required to meet certain grooming and appearance standards at work, filed suit against their employer, alleging that they were subjected to an atmosphere of “sexual objectification” and to humiliating treatment due to discriminatory standards based on sexual and/or gender stereotypes. What happened. From its inception, the […]

Americans Would Rather Remain Unemployed than Work for Companies with Bad Corporate Reputations

A majority (69 percent) of Americans would not take a job with a company that had a bad reputation, even if they were unemployed, according to recent survey findings. CR Magazine commissioned the poll, which gathered responses from over 1,000 employed and unemployed Americans to gain insights into how both corporate reputation and transparency can […]

High-deductible and Health-FSA Participation Grows

Participation in high-deductible health plans and health flexible spending accounts grew at a strong pace, according to the National Center for Health Statistics. The findings in “Health Insurance Coverage: Early Release of Estimates From the National Health Interview Survey, January–March 2013” suggest that employees’ interests in consumer-directed health plans is growing, information employers may find useful in […]