Month: October 2014

How Do Your Training Stats Compare with Our Annual Survey?

Thanks to all 1,052 participants in the 2014 Training and Development Survey! Here are the highlights: New hire orientation is the most commonly offered training topic, followed by sexual harassment and emergency procedures. HR conducts the training at 78 percent of respondents’ businesses. In the coming years, 86 percent expect to use more online training. […]

Breaking Bad: Disciplining employees for off-duty conduct

You can hardly get through your morning coffee these days without seeing another story about some athlete, model, or actor who abused his wife, trashed her Beverly Hills hotel room, or went all Archie Bunker in a racist Twitter rampage. Usually, high-profile celebrities are bound by employment contracts that require strict adherence to an impeccable standard of personal conduct. But what can the average employer do if Walter […]

It’s not a settlement when the parties can’t agree on what they agreed to

By Christina Hall It is usually good news for employers and employees if they are able to resolve an employment dispute and reach a settlement before engaging in protracted litigation. However, finalizing the details of a settlement can be a tedious process. When the parties rush through the process or fail to properly consider the […]

Survey Says: Communication Skills Are the Top Training Topic

Communication tops the list of skills training provided to individual contributors, according to a survey of executives and managers from more than 700 organizations by AMA Enterprise, a division of the American Management Association. AMA Enterprise provides organizations with assessment, measurement, and tailored training solutions. The survey probed development programs for “individual contributors,” who are […]

IRS Mandates Electronic Filing by Large Retirement Plans

IRS issued final regulations requiring employer retirement plan sponsors or administrators that file at least 250 returns in a calendar year to submit Form 5500 annual reports and other plan-related documents electronically. The regulations are effective Sept. 29, and apply for plan years that begin on or after Jan. 1, 2014, and have a filing […]

Cursing, fighting, and screaming could be protected under the NLRA

Too bad workplaces don’t come with the technology that allows employers to replace curse words with the bleeps so often heard during profanity-laced tirades on television. Then, maybe, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) wouldn’t be called on to settle disputes such as one that occurred after a bikini contest at a Hooters restaurant in […]

#hrintelchat: HR Experts Analyze Social Media Risks and Rewards

It’s a little meta to talk about social media in a social media venue, but what better way to talk about all the employment law challenges employers face when they’re dealing with such a rapidly evolving medium? Last week we hosted a panel of employment lawyers who weighed in on what they saw as the […]