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.

Do You Use Storytelling in Your Training?

At this year’s annual American Society for Training and Development (ASTD) 2014 International Conference and Exposition—at which the Society changed its name to the “Association for Talent Development” (ATD)—father and son team, Gerry Beamish of Beamish Associates and Jonathan Beamish of Accenture, presented an informative program, “Cave Wall to Internet: Storytelling, the Ancient Learning Art.” […]

High court lets Hobby Lobby, others opt out of contraception coverage under ACA

The U.S. Supreme Court reviewed the Affordable Care Act (ACA) again this term, and today, it held in Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc. that the ACA’s contraceptive mandate violates the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 (RFRA) as it is applied to “closely held corporations.” According to the Court’s 5-4 opinion, the mandate “substantially […]

Feedback

Workplace Feedback—Punishment, Puzzle, or Gift?

By William Taylor People want and need to know how they’re doing in their jobs. Feedback is important to employees, and it’s also an important management tool for improving performance. The thing is that feedback is not always done well, and it is also not always received well. Why? What can companies do to make […]

Do Your Workers Know How to Respond to Workplace Violence?

Violent behavior can erupt anywhere. Consider these statistics: Homicide is the third-leading cause of work-related deaths. According to studies, as many as 1 million Americans each year are the victims of nonfatal work-related assaults. While the highest percentage of workplace assaults are in the service, healthcare, and retail industries, incidents of violence occur in all […]

Massachusetts set for highest minimum wage in U.S.

by Susan G. Fentin Massachusetts is set to soon have the highest minimum wage in the country. On June 26, Governor Deval Patrick signed a bill that will raise the state’s minimum wage from $8 per hour to $11 an hour by 2017, the highest statewide minimum wage in the country and a full 50 […]

Obama’s three NLRB recess appointments were invalid, Supreme Court rules

On June 26, 2014, the U.S Supreme Court unanimously upheld the decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in Noel Canning v. NLRB, concluding that President Barack Obama’s three recess appointments to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB)—Sharon Block, Richard Griffin, and Terence Flynn—were not valid.  Accordingly, since three out of the […]

Push for Parental Leave Grows Due to More Family-friendly Workplaces

A trending workplace issue — paid leave for parents of newborns — could soon become a legal mandate for employers. This article summarizes activity at the state level, what’s going on at the federal level, and what employers should do as they observe the debate over parental leave. Parental Leave Is Critical, More Studies Say A growing […]

Utah case puts same-sex marriage issue on track to go before Supreme Court

Utah’s constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage suffered another blow in a June 25 ruling from the U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals, and that ruling makes it likely that the issue of same-sex marriage will go before the U.S. Supreme Court. The 10th Circuit’s decision upheld a December 2013 federal district court ruling that struck […]

4 Business Lessons from Walt Disney and Mary Poppins

Last night, my wife encouraged me to watch the movie Saving Mr. Banks, and I’m glad she did. The movie, which stars Emma Thompson and Tom Hanks, tells the story of Walt Disney’s dogged quest to obtain the rights to make a movie based on P.L. Travers’ Mary Poppins.