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Compassionate Care Benefits for Canadian Employees

By Donovan Plomp McCarthy Tetrault In Canada, employees are entitled to certain government-provided benefits under the federal Employment Insurance Act, including “compassionate care benefits.” The introduction of these benefits in January 2004 prompted almost all provinces and territories to introduce job-protected compassionate care leave in their respective minimum employment standards laws. Employers in Canada must […]

Investigations: 4 Tips to Do Them Right

Investigations are tricky, and state law conflicts don’t make the situation any clearer. Here’s more on investigations and an introduction to the famed BLR “Red Book” that many HR managers rely on day in and day out to understand both federal and state employment law. Yesterday’s Advisor offered “6 killer mistakes” that attorney Jonathan Segal […]

EEO Investigations: 6 Killer Mistakes

With EEO investigations, says attorney Jonathan Segal, whatever you do, someone’s going to be unhappy. Either you didn’t investigate hard enough or you investigated too hard. Here are 6 common investigation errors that Segal sees all too often. When it comes to EEO investigations, attorney Jonathan Segal has seen it all, and much of what […]

Retail Sales Exemption to Federal Wage Law

by Kara Shea Typically, when employers consider whether their employees are exempt from federal overtime pay requirements, they think in terms of the “big three” exemptions — administrative, executive, and professional, collectively known as the “white-collar” exemptions. When reviewing job positions, classifying new positions, or conducting an internal audit, however, remember to consider some lesser-known […]

Benefits: Can We Screen Out Unhealthy Applicants When We Hire?

Our healthcare premiums have gone through the roof (whose haven’t?), and management is putting pressure on me to get the costs down. They think we can have an impact by establishing health criteria to screen out applicants who will be likely to have high health bills, e.g., smokers, those who are overweight and/or have high […]

Irony

I don’t usually pass along pop-culture links, but this one was too good to be true. On Tuesday of this week, TMZ reported that Steve Carell, who plays Michael Scott on The Office, was selected for jury duty in an employment-related dispute in California! Well, at least he had some experience with litigation earlier this […]

Is HR Too ‘Soft’ for Six Sigma? It Works for Hiring, Experts Say

Just My E-pinion By BLR Editor Susan E. Prince, J.D. and Shane D. Gerson, Six Sigma Master Blackbelt Six Sigma—the popular methodology used to drive process improvements—has helped many organizations in their manufacturing and other functions. Will it work for HR, or is HR too “soft” a science? Our experts say, give it a try. […]

Bridge-Building 101 for HR Managers

Yesterday’s Advisor was all about HR anti-patterns, or how not to manage people. Today we’ll look on the positive side—how to build bridges of trust—and at an extraordinary tool to help. Businesses have built-in cultural gaps. HR is basically behaviorally based, while other managers tend to be bottom-line oriented. HR often wants to talk about […]

At-Will Employment Language: HR Form of the Week

In an earlier blog article we discussed a recent appeals court decision which upheld a vague employment agreement clause. Although the employer prevailed in that case despite the unclear at-will language, it’s important to make an at-will employment arrangement clear to employees to avoid lawsuits. This week we provide you with sample policy language that […]