Practical HR Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
by Dan Oswald Among my favorite movies is the 1991 film City Slickers. Billy Crystal plays radio ad salesman Mitch Robbins, who is having a bit of a midlife crisis. Mitch and his two best friends decide to leave New York City to spend two weeks on a cattle drive in the Southwest. It’s there […]
by Hannah Roskey In a recent decision, a Canadian appellate-level court confirmed that employee misconduct discovered after a without-cause termination may be relied upon by an employer in support of a later argument of just cause for termination.
Put a dozen human resources professionals together and ask them about problems related to the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), and you’re likely to hear many dozens of stories. The rules can be complicated and intricate, and unscrupulous employees manage to find creative ways to take more leave than they’re entitled to have. Recently, […]
I keep coming back to books about baseball, but they’re just too valuable in terms of personnel management. A baseball manager (and his colleagues in the team office) function so much like an HR department. They have to pick the best roster and field the best lineup for the opponent each night. They have to […]
by Peter Lowe The concept of zero-tolerance policies is rooted in the criminal justice system, and over the last 20 years, the policies have spilled over into our schools and workplaces. Zero-tolerance policies usually reflect a strong institutional stance on specific types of misconduct (e.g., drugs, theft, and violence) and consistency and severity in punishments. […]
A few weeks after the U.S. Supreme Court dealt a blow to the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) contraceptive mandate, federal courts are looking at a different aspect of the law—exchange subsidies. On July 22, there was a flurry of activity on the issue, with two federal appeals courts issuing conflicting rulings. States had the option […]
by Steven L. Brenneman Fox, Swibel, Levin & Carroll, LLP On July 21, Illinois Governor Pat Quinn signed into law the Job Opportunities for Qualified Applicants Act, which will prohibit most private-sector employers and employment agencies with 15 or more employees from asking applicants about their criminal histories and conducting criminal background checks until after […]
On July 21, President Barack Obama signed an Executive Order prohibiting federal contractors from employment discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity. Federal Employment Law Insider editor David S. Fortney, Elizabeth B. Bradley, and Emily Bristol, attorneys with Fortney & Scott, LLC in Washington, D.C., issued a statement after Obama signed the order. They […]
By Isabelle Dongier As we have repeatedly reported, there have been many changes to Canada’s immigration program in the past 18 months. Amendments to the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations were introduced in December 2013 to make it tougher and more costly for Canadian employers to hire foreign workers.
What employer doesn’t crave a pool of applicants with a strong work ethic, a reputation for being skilled, diverse, motivated, tech-savvy, mobile, and well-educated? Those qualities typically top the list of desired characteristics, but when candidates with those assets are military spouses, employers often pass them up. Department of Defense statistics claim that 85 percent […]