Author: HR Hero

EBSA Web Chat Discusses Upcoming Regulatory Agenda

Tuesday, January 4, the Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) hosted a live Q&A Web chat to discuss its regulatory priorities for the next several months and to answer questions. Phyllis Borzi, assistant secretary for EBSA, started the session by stating that the focus of the chat would be on EBSA’s pension initiatives that appear in […]

Ghost of Christmas Past: Firing Union Supporters Can Come Back to Haunt You

By David McDonald Most Canadian employers are familiar with what they can and can’t do when they’re the target of a union-organizing campaign. Labor legislation across Canada prohibits management from terminating or disciplining employees because of trade union affiliation while a union is attempting to gain representational rights. A recent decision from British Columbia, Playtime […]

5 Business Books to Read in 2011

Here is the Wall Street Journal’s Kyle Stock’s list of 5 books to read in 2011 to help improve your work life. 1. Getting More: How to Negotiate to Achieve Your Goals in the Real World by Stuart Diamond. Practitioner, professor, and Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Diamond uses his 40 years of experience as an […]

Clean Slate

As I write this, it is the final day of 2010. We are on the eve of a new year and with it comes a clean slate, a blank canvas on which you can create the type of year you want in 2011. January 1 marks the beginning of a new year. Janus, for whom […]

Cheap Labor

Litigation Value: Class action by day-laborers hired by Dwight = $500,000; penalties for violations of the Immigration Reform and Control Act = $50,000. [Tonight’s entry was authored by Josh Drexler, whom you’ll be hearing more from in the coming year.] While watching last night’s two repeat episodes, I noticed that Dwight Schrute potentially exposed Sabre/Dunder […]

Hiring Decisions and Older Workers — Avoiding Liability

By Alix Herber and Hadiya Roderique Across Canada, human rights legislation prohibits employment discrimination on the basis of age. This applies to all aspects of the employment relationship — job advertisements, application forms, job interviews, hiring decisions, denial of promotional opportunities, and termination decisions. Data from the Ontario Human Rights Commission for 2007-2008 and 2008-2009 […]

Six States Increase Indexed Minimum Wages for 2011

As the new year approaches, a number of states will see index-driven increases to their minimum wage rates. Specifically, Arizona, Montana, Ohio, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington will each add around 10 cents per hour to their existing wage rates, based on an increase in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) of a little more than one […]

The Sting Redux

Tonight’s Office (originally aired October 2010) involved the courtship — a/k/a sting operation — of Danny Cordray, the slick-talking, good-looking uber salesman from Osprey Paper Company. Cordray keeps stealing Dunder Mifflin clients, so Michael, Jim, and Dwight set up a fake office front with Meredith posing as the CEO of a fictional company. The goal […]

NLRB Takes ‘Major Step’ with New Notice Rule

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) took “a major, but not unexpected, step” Tuesday when it announced a new proposed rule that would require employers to notify employees of their rights under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). Among other things, employers would have to let employees know that they have the right to “[t]ake […]