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HR–Show Me the Money!

Special from the Advanced Employment Issues Symposium, Las Vegas In yesterday’s Advisor, BLR CEO Dan Oswald offered tips for getting a seat at HIS table. Today, more on how to interact with the C-Suite, plus an introduction to the all-HR-in-one site, HR.BLR.com Show Me the Money Oswald, author of the Oswald Letter, suggests that HR […]

New Washington marijuana law doesn’t require employers to change policies

by Javier F. Garcia Washington’s new law concerning recreational marijuana use takes effect December 6, but it doesn’t require changes in employer policies. Initiative 502 (I-502), approved in the November 6 election, is intended to make the production and sale of marijuana a regulated, state-licensed system similar to that for controlling hard alcohol. It means […]

COBRA Penalties and Legal Costs Due to Notice Failure, Evasive Answers Rise to $126K

An employer/plan administrator continues to get an expensive lesson on the risks of having both inadequate COBRA notice procedures and poor explanations of how those procedures work. An “inefficient, unwieldy” notice process — coupled with evasive and contradictory answers from employees on why a qualified beneficiary did not receive a COBRA election notice — led […]

What Do Your Colleagues Think?

Note that the questions and responses that deal specifically with training are underlined. What’s the best way to get workers to be safer at work? 74%    Training, training, training 11%    Safety incentives 9%      Discipline 6%      Something else Should willfull, repeat OSHA violators be allowed removal from the Severe Violator Enforcement Program (SVEP) log? 68%    No […]

Want a Seat at MY Table? (Talk My Language)

If you want a seat at my table, you have to talk my language, and that’s the language of numbers and dollars, says Dan Oswald, BLR CEO and author of the Oswald Letter. Oswald offered his remarks at BLR’s Advanced Employment Issues Symposium under way this week in Las Vegas. Here’s what I want to […]

5 tips for paying overtime in California

Overtime in California can be a complex calculation, not the least of which is because the state laws for calculating overtime differ from federal law. This issue remains a priority because overtime violation complaints are on the rise. –Claims for unpaid overtime and other missed pay obligations are definitely the lawsuit of the day.– Allen […]

Employee who talks about settlement gets less

By Brian P. Smeenk It’s common practice across Canada, when settling a discrimination or wrongful termination claim, to agree that the deal will remain confidential. What can an employer do if employees fail to honor that agreement? What if they blab about the settlement to their coworkers?

Study Ties Strong Learning Culture to Business Advantages

That is among the findings of a study from Bersin & Associates (www.bersin.com). The study, entitled, High-Impact Learning Culture: The 40 Best Practices for an Empowered Enterprise, found that the majority of organizations that have built strong learning cultures are market leaders with highly productive employees and satisfied customers. “This is the first research to […]

Conspiracy theory

Potential Liability: Angela and Trevor are going to jail. Dwight too? Not even Rainn Wilson’s recent video could keep us from watching this week’s episode, “The Target,” which featured a murder-for-hire plot, a giant comment-card pyramid, and Dwight’s pixelated genitalia. Yikes, indeed. Angela has discovered that her husband, The Senator, is having an affair with Oscar. She does not react well and […]

Rules for providing rest breaks in California

Providing rest breaks in California is just as important as providing meal breaks, and failing to do so could prompt similar penalties if discovered. In fact, meal and rest period requirements have played a huge role in wage and hour litigation for more than 5 years now.