Category: HR Management & Compliance

There are dozens of details to take care of in the day-to-day operation of your department and your company. We give you case studies, news updates, best practices and training tips that keep your organization fully in compliance with ever-changing employment law, and you fully aware of emerging HR trends.

ADA Doesn’t Protect Train Engineer From Turning Over Medical Records

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) limits an employer’s right to require a current employee to provide information about his medical conditions. Only in situations where the need to obtain such health information is necessary to determine whether the employee can perform the job functions and do so in a safe manner is the medical […]

Biden Calls on Workers to Come Back to the Office

The annual State of the Union address, given by the U.S. president to Congress and televised around the world, is an opportunity for the president to celebrate his achievements and pitch his priorities to the nation. Those who tuned in to President Joe Biden’s March 2 State of the Union speech may have been surprised […]

Circumstantial Evidence Can Prove Retaliatory Anti-Whistleblower Motive

Wrongful termination suits often rely on proof of motive—did the employer terminate the employee for an unlawful reason? But employers that act for illegal motives aren’t likely to admit it, so the law has established ways to prove unlawful motives through circumstantial evidence. But there is more than one formula for that proof, depending on […]

data

HR Data Is a Mess: People Analytics Can Clean Up the Process

Every HR department has done it: Your team scrambles to sift through a year’s worth of data, stored in spreadsheets, e-mails, printouts, and some folder a manager left on your desk, all because head count planning is on the horizon. Why is it so hard? And how is it a headache every year? Outdated HR […]

policy

Why COVID-19 Should Continue to Shape Long-Term HR Policies

For more than 2 years, challenges from the COVID-19 pandemic have continued to make their presence known—not to mention the “Great Resignation” that has required HR policies to adapt quickly and continuously. At the beginning of the pandemic, when each day was “unprecedented,” employees woke up to initial responses that provided short-term solutions. But now […]

The Art of Reporting Up

Employees often bemoan the symptoms of poor communication with their superiors. This might include feeling like they aren’t getting the recognition for their good deeds or are getting blamed for things beyond their control. Or it might include feeling like the superior is simply out of touch and doesn’t appreciate the needs of the employee. […]

My Work Rule Is Legal Today, But What About Tomorrow?

Whenever the White House switches from one party to the other, there are risks because new appointments to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) mean changes will occur in how it interprets and enforces the National Labor Relations Act (Act). Based on a recently issued notice and invitation to file briefs, all signs indicate we’ll […]

Conjunction Junction, What’s Your Function? Apparently, Deciding Harassment Cases

The words “and,” “but,” and “or” are conjunctions. In case you’ve forgotten, Schoolhouse Rock taught many of us in grade school that conjunctions link words, phrases, and clauses together to form sentences. But in case you were sleeping in class that day, the Minnesota Court of Appeals recently provided a great crash course when it […]

#MeToo Message Received: Congress Nixes Arbitration Clauses

Viewed as a risk mitigation tool, arbitration clauses are included in employment contracts and policies to route employer/employee disputes to a private forum and outside of the courthouse. Employers are attracted to such clauses because they are believed to be cost-effective and a confidential resolution of claims. As part of the #MeToo movement, however, such […]