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.

Taming Intermittent Leave FMLA (Ha, Ha, Says Expert)

“Let’s talk about how to handle abuse of intermittent leave rules,” says attorney Jeffrey A. Wortman. Then he chuckles, underscoring the near impossibility of easily managing intermittent leave under the FMLA. Wortman, a partner in the Los Angeles office of Seyfarth Shaw LLP, and Nancy M. Cooper a partner in the Portland, Oregon, office of […]

Will the Brinker Meal and Rest Breaks Decision Stand?

Most California employers know by now that a California appeals court recently issued an important decision in Brinker Restaurant Corp. v. Superior Court, interpreting the state’s meal and rest period requirements and giving employers and employees welcome flexibility in scheduling breaks. (See our complete coverage here.)

45 Effective Ways for Hiring Smart

Employment law attorney Michael Maslanka reviews the book 45 Effective Ways for Hiring Smart by Pierre Mornell. Review  contains tips for hiring the best employee, from interview questions to checking references. Recently, I ran across an excellent book, 45 EFFECTIVE WAYS FOR HIRING SMART: How to Predict Winners and Losers in the Incredibly Expensive People-Reading […]

Managing FMLA–‘It’s a Nightmare’

Ask most HR managers what their biggest headache is, and about 90 percent say “FMLA.” From eligibility to notifications to managing intermittent leave, it’s an ever-present problem. And FMLA is also widely abused. However, the good news is that abuse can be tamed to some extent, say attorneys Jeffrey A. Wortman and Nancy M. Cooper. […]

Managing Down to Those Who Manage Up

In yesterday’s Advisor we talked about “managing up.” Today, tips about managing down, and an introduction to a new audio conference, Handling Difficult Conversations. Here’s a typical scenario between a subordinate and a boss: Bill comes up to Sally, the boss, who is running to a meeting, and says, “We have problem with x.” Sally […]

Hot List: Bestselling Business Books on Amazon.com

Amazon.com updates its list of bestselling business books hourly. Here is a snapshot of what books were hot this morning — Monday, September 15. 1. Hot, Flat, and Crowded: Why We Need a Green Revolution–and How It Can Renew America by Thomas L. Friedman. The author of The World Is Flat 3.0: A Brief History […]

Managing Up–Get the Boss to Have Your Ideas

If you don’t get bosses to have your ideas, heaven forfend, they’ll come up with their own. And that spells disaster for both of you. Bill Oncken, late management training guru of Managing Management Time, used to say that managers need to get the boss to have the managers’ ideas. Face it, he said — […]

Combat-Ready HR: SPHR-Certified Colonel Shares Tips

By Robert BowenJust My E-pinion Today’s guest columnist, an SPHR-certified former lieutenant colonel, shares how he’s learned to make good use of “command” and “compassionate” people strategies. Robert Bowen, SPHR, Lt. Col. (Ret.), is the HR career coach at HumanResourcesCoaching.com. As human resources professionals, we often find ourselves “switching hats” between two distinct day-to-day roles: […]

Managers’ Myths about Sexual Harassment

Seems like managers would have gotten the message about sexual harassment, but many are still confused. Here are the facts about some of the most prevalent myths, taken from BLR’s Total Training Resource: Sexual Harassment. Myth–Harassment is something supervisors do to subordinates. Fact–Any employee can commit sexual harassment, including supervisors, subordinates to supervisors, and co-workers.  […]

Workers’ Comp Premiums May Be Headed Up

Since the workers’ compensation reforms of 2003, most California employers have seen a steady and welcome decline in their workers’ comp insurance premiums. But rates may be headed in the other direction starting in 2009.