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The Devastating Result of a Single Word

A car wash company provided its employees with a handbook setting forth its employment policies. The handbook was written in both English and Spanish, it required arbitration of employment disputes, and it denied an employee’s right to bring an action under the California Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA). The English version stated that the denial […]

Appellate Court Upholds $500,000 Jury Verdict for Disability Harassment

A jury awarded an employee with a speech impediment $500,000 because he was harassed by a supervisor who mimicked his stutter. The central issue on appeal was whether the supervisor’s conduct was sufficiently severe or pervasive to constitute disability harassment. When does a joking atmosphere become a hostile work environment?

3 Questions to Ask When Measuring Your Sales Training ROI

U.S. companies spend over $70 billion annually on training and an average of $1,459 per salesperson, which is almost 20% more than they spend on workers in all other departments and functions. Most of that sales training and learning material (nearly 80% in some cases) isn’t retained because it’s curriculum-based. And it’s consistently not yielding […]

Have ‘Stranger’ Leaves Been Approved? FMLA Lessons from Netflix

While binge-watching everyone’s nostalgic guilty pleasure, Netflix’s Stranger Things, I could not help but empathize with single mother Joyce Byers (played by actress Winona Ryder). Her prepubescent son, Will (Noah Schnapp), was abducted by a monster (the Demogorgon) and sent to a parallel universe (the Upside Down) populated by dog-like monsters. During Will’s disappearance, apparent […]

Behavior-Based Interviewing Skills: A Q&A with Rachel Mendelowitz

When it comes to job interviews, candidates are savvier than ever. They’ve reviewed the job description closely and know to use keywords. They’ve read reviews from other applicants on Glassdoor, and they’ve studied up on interview strategies. So, how do you separate those who have prepared well from those who will truly be the best […]

Why We Hire Family and Friends

For centuries, children often followed in the footsteps of their parents when entering the workforce. If your father was a farmer or a blacksmith or a fisherman, that is what you were taught, and that was what you were likely to also do when you came of age. The same holds true to some extent […]

transgender

How to Accommodate Transitioning and Transgender Employees

In 2017, the state of California enacted the Transgender Work Opportunity Act, which became effective in January 2018. The legislation requires mandatory workplace postings and enhanced training programs geared toward helping transgender and gender nonconforming workers overcome high unemployment rates, helping prevent discrimination in the workplace, and increasing inclusiveness in the workplace.