Practical HR Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
HR writer Sarah McAdams reviews the book Straight Man by Ricard Russo. Review highlights real-life business lessons that can be learned from the fictional book. Straight Man: A Novel isn’t your standard business book—hell, it isn’t any kind of business book. But the 1997 novel by Richard Russo (you may know him better for his […]
What’s on your corporate Thanksgiving table? How about a helping of wellness and weight-loss programs? The Advisor looks at some that work. Thanksgiving is traditionally a forget-the-diet day for many of your employees. Maybe that makes this week a great time to consider a wellness program that will help them live healthier lives the other […]
Just two weeks ago, a temblor measuring 5.6 on the Richter scale rattled San Jose and was felt throughout the reaches of the Bay Area. Fortunately, it didn’t cause any major damage. But the quake was another wake-up call for California residents and businesses about the possibility of a much bigger, destructive quake occurring in […]
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has released a revised Form I-9, which is the form that all employers must complete for new hires to verify eligibility to work in the U.S. As of Nov. 7, 2007, the new form is the only version that is acceptable for use, although the USCIS says it […]
In an important new ruling, the California Supreme Court has approved an employer’s practice of paying increased salaries and commissions to cover employees’ mileage expenses. At issue was Labor Code Section 2802, which requires employers to indemnify employees for necessary expenditures they incur as a result of the job. The employees here had argued that […]
Most drug and alcohol abusers seek work—and some may be filling out applications in your lobby right now. What are the legal, workable, and effective ways to keep them out? As we reported in yesterday’s Advisor, most abusers of drugs and alcohol are in the workplace, but they aren’t doing you any favors by being […]
BusinessWeek ranks business books that are the most recent bestsellers and provides a short summary. 1. The Age of Turbulence by Alan Greenspan. 2. The 4-Hour Workweek by Timothy Ferriss. 3. Strengthsfinder 2.0 by Tom Rath. This book will give you “ideas for action” and tips for how best you can work with others. More […]
A recent study shows that most illicit drug users and heavy alcohol users are employed. That means they’re possibly working for you. If you are not testing, you’re likely an “employer of choice” for all the wrong reasons. Ah, the joys of drug testing. Nothing quite like trying to ferret out users of the Whizzinator […]
The holiday season is just around the corner, and busy employees are increasingly doing their shopping at the world’s gigantic electronic marketplace, located conveniently on their office computer. Careless e-mail use can end up as a huge lump of coal in an employer’s stocking — in the form of evidence used against it in litigation. […]
Litigation Value: $150.00 (for the birthday cakes) As they always say, you can’t please all of the people all of the time. Nowhere is this more true than at office parties, birthday or otherwise. Lucky for Dunder Mifflin, the biggest party-related issue in last night’s episode was birthday cake. But sometimes employers just aren’t that […]