Practical HR Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
by David K. Reid Employers need to be ready for New Jersey’s new social media privacy law, which takes effect December 1. The law prohibits employers from requiring applicants and employees to disclose their user names and passwords for personal social media accounts or otherwise provide access to their accounts. The law doesn’t apply to […]
by Amy Kunkel-Patterson Seattle’s new law restricting the use of criminal background checks takes effect November 1. The Job Assistance Ordinance prohibits employers from requiring applicants to disclose arrest or conviction records as part of initial job applications. It also restricts how employers may use arrest and conviction records that eventually are disclosed. A number […]
by Boyd Byers Is your employee handbook or policy manual haunted by shadowy policies and provisions that are treated as though they aren’t even there? “Ghost policies” can creep into a handbook in a number of ways. They may be relics that once lived useful lives—the legacies of long-departed HR managers—but their original purpose is […]
by Dan Oswald If you’re like me, it’s time to turn your attention to 2014. As we move through the fourth quarter of 2013 and can see the end in sight, our thoughts turn to what we want to accomplish in the coming year. At our company, we’re in the midst of our budgeting process […]
By Julia Kennedy It should be a relief to many employers (and employees) that their company has just one board of directors, with no second house to blockade budgets, freeze operating funds, or send large portions of the workforce home. Since an estimated 800,000 U.S. government employees were “furloughed” or required to work without pay […]
Employers are always on the hunt for ways to attract, retain, and engage employees. They resort to a variety of perks including flexible scheduling, plenty of paid time off, and more. But employers also strive to go beyond those common incentives as they search for an innovative perk that will produce a payoff in the […]
by Daniel C. Stockford What would you do if a senior manager in your company was prone to making the types of controversial and incendiary remarks for which Maine Governor Paul LePage has become famous? In this article, we will examine the governor’s history of controversial statements and explore what can be done when a […]
by Dan Oswald The other night I walked in the door to find my youngest son watching the movie Remember the Titans. If you’re a regular reader of this column, you know I consider the movie one of my favorites. Of course, I sat down and watched the last 30 minutes of the film with […]
by Peter A. Jones A new law going into effect October 29 means employees of New York hospitals and residential healthcare facilities may not smoke anywhere on the grounds or within 15 feet of any entrance or exit to a building or the grounds of such facilities. The law allows a narrow exception for patients […]
By Lorene Novakowski In two recent cases out of British Columbia, employers were found to be entitled to collect GPS information from service vehicles and from mobile phones issued to employees. Employees had complained that the collection of the GPS information was contrary to the BC Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA). The complaints were considered […]