Practical HR Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
Question: An employee who has been approved for intermittent Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) leave to care for his mother is asking for two days off to bring his mother to his cousin’s funeral in another state. Would this also be covered under the FMLA? Answer: The employee may be covered under their FMLA […]
In a significant move that promises to reshape the U.S. labor landscape, the Biden administration has proposed a new rule intended to extend overtime pay eligibility to an additional 3.6 million workers. It’s a proposal the marks the most substantial increase in such provisions in recent decades and revives an initiative from the Obama era. […]
While there is still plenty of work to be done, gender equality has made tremendous strides in the workplace in recent decades. Gone are the days when women were confined to clerical and administrative roles while completely absent from the C-suite and board of directors. Still, it has been difficult to stamp out every vestige […]
It’s not about shoes, says Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh, it’s about stories. (See yesterday’s issue for a great Zappos’ customer service story.) It’s about creating more memories, says Hsieh. Hsieh uses the Las Vegas example of Cirque du Soleil. They totally redefined circus with their extraordinary sets and movements, but they didn’t get there by […]
Question: We have an employee on short-term disability (STD) with a doctor’s note stating he is not fit to return to work. However, we have recently learned the employee is performing work around his farm. Is there anything we need to be doing differently administratively?
It’s no secret that we’re all sitting more than we should and that it has negative consequences for both our physical and our mental health. Research shows that this inactivity also has economic implications for employers, costing companies hundreds of thousands of dollars per year. As the pandemic subsides and we settle into a new […]
A 2013 laptop theft led to a $3.2 million Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) penalty against a Dallas hospital, after the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) determined that it had failed to address known security risks for years beforehand.
Consider these recent statistics: According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), 729 Hispanic or Latino workers were killed from work-related injuries in 2011. That works out to more than 14 deaths a week, or two Latino workers killed every single day of the year, all year long. Other non-English-speaking workers are a growing […]
Be honest: Are you a good motivator at work? Scott Adams, the author of Reframe Your Brain: The User Interface for Happiness and Success, likely disagrees with your answer. But he gives us a way to rethink—or, as he puts it, reframe—our mindset on motivation. I, too, spend a lot of time thinking about this […]
Wal-Mart has successfully defended a putative class action alleging that its failure to employ former drug addicts as pharmacists violates the Americans with Disabilities Act. The retailer was able to show that the lead plaintiff was fired because he was previously charged with forging prescriptions — not because of his history of addiction. The suit […]