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Canada’s Rocky Economy Leads to Legal Refinements in Employment Benefit Law

By Bill Duvall As the prognosis for Canada’s economy remains uncertain, the Canadian court system continues to churn out employment cases arising from distressed employers. On this front, two recent cases are of interest. In the first, an Ontario court concludes that employees may not be entitled to statutory severance pay when they are provided […]

Encouraging Employees to Leave When There’s Nothing in the File

Terminations, and “requests” for resignation are delicate moments for all HR managers. Expert Paul Falcone offers advice about how to handle these tricky questions, and we introduce an all-answers-in-one-place HR website. Falcone, a prolific writer on HR topics and a popular speaker, is VP, Employee Relations, at Time Warner Cable in Los Angeles. He is […]

Hot List: Wall Street Journal’s Bestselling Hardcover Business Books

The following is a list of the bestselling hardcover business books as ranked by the Wall Street Journal with data from Nielsen BookScan on August 23. 1. StrengthsFinder 2.0: A New and Upgraded Edition of the Online Test from Gallup’s Now, Discover Your Strengths by Tom Rath. Are you unsure where your true talents lie? […]

SHRM Conference Special: Supervisors Avoid Tough Conversations—Unless You Give Script

Managers and supervisors will go to great lengths to avoid tough conversations with employees. Unfortunately, avoidance isn’t the best approach. So give your supervisors and managers scripts to follow, says Paul Falcone. Falcone, a prolific writer on HR topics and a popular speaker, is VP, Employee Relations, at Time Warner Cable in Los Angeles. He […]

Did HP’s Board Make the Right Call?

When a colleague suggested I write about Hewlett Packard’s firing of CEO Mark Hurd, I wasn’t sure there was anything of value to say about this situation. But on further reflection I think there is a clear lesson in all of this. You might recall that on August 6, Hurd resigned under pressure from HP’s […]

Words Matter (More than Lithium)

Litigation Value: A plaintiff (and high school) class consisting of “Scott’s Tots,” each of whom could claim entitlement to four years of college tuition — less an offset for the value of a laptop battery. (Thanks, Mr. Scott.) Greetings, faithful readers! You know the summer’s going fast and the nights are growing colder — at […]

HRDA Interview: Are Scanned Documents Legal in Court?

By Stephen Bruce, PhD, PHR Just My E-pinion Scanned documents are legal, says attorney Catherine Moreton Gray, but you must be careful and consistent in your procedures if you want to be sure they’ll hold up in court. Gray, an attorney with Robinson & Cole in Hartford, Connecticut, answered HRDA’s questions during a recent interview. […]

Trying to Go Paperless? Guidelines for Electronic Personnel Documents

by Joseph C. Pettygrove Employers are increasingly looking at the feasibility of scanning hard copies of various types of employment documents and retaining only the electronic copies in the routine course of business. Generally speaking, you are allowed to do that if you ensure that your electronic record maintenance systems are secure, accurate, reliable, and […]

Walking the Tightrope of State and Federal FMLA

In yesterday’s Advisor, we featured examples of state and federal family and medical leave (FML) interactions. Today, we’ll look at some critical considerations plus take a look at the “FMLA Bible.” Here are today’s major considerations regarding interplay between state and federal FML law: Intermittent Leave Many of the state FML laws do not provide […]

With State Family Leave laws, Brace Yourself for Double Dipping

If your state has its own family and medical leave (FML) law, in some circumstances employees may be able to take both leaves, one after the other, and there’s nothing you can do about it. To deal with federal/state family leave issues, the first step is to determine which laws apply to you as a […]