Author: Tammy Binford

Dress Codes at Work

Workplace Dress Codes and Employment Law

Because styles and new thinking about what’s acceptable attire in the workplace are ever changing, HR professionals continue to struggle with dress codes. Expectations of professional appearance differ among, and even, within professions. Some HR pros have found that allowing supervisors or department heads the ability to establish and enforce dress codes works better than […]

NLRB Union Election Rule Struck Down

Foes of the National Labor Relations Board’s (NLRB) rule to shorten the process required to hold a union representation election scored a win when a court invalidated the rule on May 14, but the final outcome of the fight isn’t yet clear. The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ruled that the NLRB […]

The Difference Between Knowing How and Knowing Why

A friend of mine likes to say, “People who know How … work for people who know Why.” Think about that for a minute. What’s the difference between knowing How and knowing Why? The people in your company who know How are, no doubt, very important.  In fact, the company can’t operate without them. They’re […]

Reprisal Complaints Must Relate to Health and Safety Matters

By Rosalind H. Cooper Occupational health and safety legislation in most Canadian provinces prohibits reprisal by an employer against an employee who makes allegations of unsafe work. Workers routinely try to rely on such reprisal provisions to attack any actions of their employers. A recent Ontario Labour Relations Board decision, Petro v. The Beer Store, […]

Mergers & Aggravations

Litigation Value: Whatever it is, David Wallace should pray that he’s not on the hook for it. My colleagues and I have written on this blog about all of the costly potential lawsuits the Scranton branch has spawned since Sabre acquired Dunder Mifflin. Let’s assume some of these incidents have become actual lawsuits alleging discrimination […]

Working Mother

Moms Know There’s More to a Job Than Just the Job

Do you have any moonlighters in your workforce? Maybe you have an accountant moonlighting as a van driver or facilities manager. Maybe you have a computer operator moonlighting as a CEO, or even a CEO moonlighting as a computer operator. Such pairings may not sound likely, but when you consider that working mothers perform one […]

How Not to Fire Your Canadian Employee

By Sean McGurran and Marisa Victor The recent decision in Drake v. Blach in the Ontario Superior Court provides a good example of how not to go about firing an employee. It provides a good lesson on how employment law in Canada will come to the rescue of a wronged employee. Background The case involves […]

Performance Evaluation

When It Comes to Job Performance, Is Everyone Extraordinary?

Recently, we had an interesting discussion in our weekly executive meeting. At our company, we’re just wrapping up our annual performance evaluations. We were talking about how the process went this year and what we could do to improve it. One of our senior team members  said our evaluation system can actually hurt morale. Here’s […]

Turf War; Smurf War

Litigation Value: Wait, Dunder Mifflin might actually be a plaintiff in an employment dispute? In a surprising turn of events, the company may have claims against Andy Bernard for stealing a major client and against Jim and Dwight for stealing from the company. Not surprisingly, Dunder Mifflin is looking at liability ($150,000+) for Robert California’s […]

Benefits Other Than Health Insurance Survey 2012

Employee benefits other than wages have evolved over the years as companies look for new ways to retain good employees, boost employee morale, and encourage employee loyalty. Each year, we at HRHero and BLR survey our readers to find out what benefits they offer and how their benefits plans are decided and change to fit […]