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EEOC Votes to Revise ADA Amendments Act Regulations

(Updated June 17, 2009) The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) voted Wednesday (June 17) to move forward with revising its regulations to conform to changes made by the ADA Amendments Act of 2008 (ADAAA), which would make it easier for an individual seeking protection under the ADA to establish that he or she has a […]

Most Common ‘Essential Function’ Mistakes

Conceptually, “essential functions” seems easy enough, but it’s tricky when you get down to specifics. And there are common mistakes that are easily avoided. Here are some “essential” guidelines, courtesy of attorney Natividad Valdez of the Washington State Department of Personnel. Why Are Essential Functions So Important? From a human resources standpoint, identifying essential functions […]

Workload Burnout Hitting Layoff Survivors

In the aftermath of layoffs affecting businesses over the last two years, many of those employees who are lucky enough to have kept their jobs are feeling a little less lucky these days. Increased workloads, combined with looming fears of even more layoffs, has left many employees feeling burnt out.

Beware the Unpaid Intern in Canada

One of the unfortunate outcomes of the current economic climate is that there are fewer jobs to go around for students. Summer and graduating students who have relied on summer jobs for experience and training are finding few opportunities out there. To solve this problem, many students and graduates are reaching out to companies to […]

Termination Lawsuit Risks Reduced? Check!

Terminations are breeding grounds for expensive lawsuits. Yesterday’s Advisor presented the first 7 of 10 questions you should ask before terminating employees. Today we’ll cover questions 8 through 10, plus look at a handy terminations checklist from HR.BLR.com®. 8. Do you have a well-documented business reason for the termination? Generally, if you can produce a […]

Hot List: BusinessWeek’s Bestseller List

BusinessWeek magazine ranks the 15 best selling hardcover and paperback business books for June 2009 and  gives a short summary. 1. Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell. As you’d expect with Gladwell, there are lots of surprises in his explanation of why some people succeed fantastically. Pluck and smarts get less play here […]

The Role of Diversity in Fall of Chrysler

By Sarah McAdams Embracing diversity and inclusiveness is not only the right thing to do — it also, of course, makes good business sense. When we think about organizational diversity, we usually first consider the individual level. We want to make sure, for instance, that your gay/Mormon/Asian/disabled/female worker feels that her ability to work productively […]

DOL Offers Disabled Job Candidate Database

The Department of Labor (DOL) has made available to employers a free database of nearly 2,000 job candidates with disabilities seeking employment in a wide variety of fields. The Workforce Recruitment Program for College Students with Disabilities compiled the database by sending recruiters to college campuses across the country to interview eligible undergraduate and postgraduate […]

Mr. Mom: A Personal Encounter with Stereotypes

Just in time for Father’s Day, employment law attorney Barbara Goodwin reflects on what are considered the “traditional” family roles and reminds employers not to make the mistake of stereotyping men and women and their caregiving responsibilities. I’m a working mother. I had my first child about 10 days after graduating from law school and […]