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How NOT to Deal with Sexual Harassment Complaints

A recent EEOC lawsuit—just settled for $2.3 million—gives a picture perfect example of how NOT to handle sexual harassment complaints. The harassment was compounded by retaliation and ratcheted up with evidence tampering. In the suit, Fry Electronics worker America Rios complained to her boss, Ka Lam,  that her manager was sexting her and inviting her […]

More Tips for Evaluating Training Sessions

Evaluation of classroom training also involves evaluating your own performance as a trainer and assessing the effectiveness of your training methods and presentation. Here’s how to get training evaluations during and after your training sessions: Use a survey. One of the most common ways to do this is to ask trainees for feedback, using some […]

Do You Embed Evaluation into Training Sessions?

Evaluations—both of employee learning and of the effectiveness of the training—are an important part of the learning process. So important, in fact, that they can’t be left to the very end. Unfortunately, many people think of evaluation as something that comes only at the end of training—but evaluation should really be built into the session […]

Expert Advice on Handling Difficult Trainees and Questions

Q. What can trainers do to manage difficult participants and difficult questions during training? A. Difficult trainees include hecklers (particularly in large groups) as well as those who “for whatever reason have totally shut down and make it obvious” by not participating and sitting with their arms folded during training, says Veronica J. Holcomb, president […]

Corporate Plans Lag Behind Public Pensions when Investing in ‘Sustainables’

Corporate retirement plans in the United States are much less likely to employ socially responsible investing strategies in their portfolio investments than are public pension plans, according to a new report by global financial services company BNY Mellon.  Concerns about ERISA and fiduciary roles, along with “lack of interest” and “performance tradeoff,” were most often […]

Majority of Fortune 100 Companies Offer Only DC Plans to New Hires

The latest annual survey of Fortune 100 companies’ retirement plan types confirms the familiar shift to defined contribution plans by most of the largest U.S. firms. As of 2012, 70 of the Fortune 100 companies offered only DC plans to new, salaried employees. Just 11 still offer a traditional defined benefit pension plan to new […]

Federal Officials Discuss Health Reform Duties for Employers Between Now and 2014

When it comes to health reform’s new Summary of Benefits and Coverage, the feds will give some compliance leeway in cases where plan sponsors cannot fit data into the narrow spaces prescribed in the law, a prominent federal official told benefits attorneys in Washington, D.C. Many in the industry say the health reform law was […]

Could Your Trainers Use Some Expert Training Advice?

Q. How can trainers make the most efficient use of classroom training time? A. Trainers are under constant pressure from management to decrease the amount of face-to-face classroom time and to reduce overall training time, says Elaine Biech, president and managing principal of ebb associates inc. (www.ebbweb.com), an organizational development firm. That’s why it’s so […]

Teacher Entitled to Return to Same Job After Difficult Pregnancy

A district court’s refusal to grant an employer’s motion for summary judgment in a fired teacher’s interference and retaliation claim is a clarion call and reminder to employers that the Family and Medical Leave Act guarantees employees that their original job — or its equivalent — will be waiting for them when their FMLA leave has […]