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The Summer Job Rush Is On: But Is Change Coming in Child Labor Laws?

Teen employment is highly regulated under child labor laws. Those laws may be changing. Here’s what you need to know. June is the month when most schools close for the summer. That means it’s also the time that thousands of American teenagers look for summer jobs. At any given time, according to the Department of […]

3 Surveys Take a Novel View of HR

Three studies explore how HR professionals use their time, how the profession is regarded, and even how boring it is. Taking a day off this week for Memorial Day has allowed us a bit of time to reflect on HR as a profession. We’re helped in this by three surveys we’ve found that view HR […]

The Ins and Outs of the Interview

by Amy M. McLaughlin The Second U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals recently determined that a job applicant presented enough disputed information for his age discrimination case to be submitted to a jury, rather than dismissed. The applicant claimed that the individuals who interviewed him had an age bias against him and preferred the younger applicants. […]

Can Employers Apply USERRA Differently for Workers Who Volunteer for Service?

Q: Our Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA) policy is administered differently for employees ordered into military service or leave and those who volunteer for military leave. The policy states that for ordered military leave shorter than 31 days, the company will pay the employee’s normal rate of pay. For voluntary military leaves, […]

The Convention Reprised

Throwing a virtual rave in a company-sponsored hotel room complete with black lights and a full assortment of hard liquor, while at the same time seeking to secure business opportunities, is a recipe for disaster. Luckily for Dunder Mifflin, Michael was miserably unsuccessful in creating the bacchanalian setting he so desperately longed for. But other […]

So Now We Know What Your Workers Think of You … And We’re About to Find Out Again!

By BLR Founder and CEO Bob Brady Our first National Employee Attitude Survey report showed your workers were getting only about three-fourths of what they want from you.  Well, we’re running it again, starting on February 8, 2008. It’s still free, but you may find the results priceless.  Here’s the article I wrote about last […]

Want to Avoid FLSA Problems? Do a Self-Audit

FLSA violations are now the Department of Labor’s top enforcement target. Here’s how to use a self-audit to stay out of the bull’s-eye. In yesterday’s article on telecommuters suing their employers, most of the legal action described was over the issue of overtime payments. With workers geographically outside the employer’s control, there often is no […]

Season Recap

Total Litigation Value: $6,635,500+ There is no doubt that the crew from Dunder Mifflin (primarily Michael) had some expensive snafus this season. In approximately 20 weeks, Michael managed to out a gay employee; announce his affair with a Vice President at the CFO’s party; invite a pervert dressed as Ben Franklin to an office party; […]

Employment Law Tip: Managing Flextime

A recent survey conducted by Harris Interactive on behalf of staffing firm Adecco USA has found that that 59 percent of working men between the ages of 35 and 44 said flexibility for working mothers causes some resentment among co-workers. What’s more, the survey found, some workers believe flexible schedules negatively affect team dynamics (36 […]