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NLRB

NLRB rulings have far-reaching impact on employers and policies

by Tony Puckett In December 2014, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) delivered two major edicts that affect all employers. The first speeds up the union election process so employers will have less time to respond to a petition. The second allows employees to use employers’ e-mail systems for union organizing and other protected concerted […]

Straight Man

HR writer Sarah McAdams reviews the book Straight Man by Ricard Russo. Review highlights real-life business lessons that can be learned from the fictional book. Straight Man: A Novel isn’t your standard business book—hell, it isn’t any kind of business book. But the 1997 novel by Richard Russo (you may know him better for his […]

Who’s Harassing Whom in Your Company—Right Now?

Multimillion dollar harassment settlements and judgments just keep on coming. Recent headlines run the gamut from “Unwanted Touching at McDonalds” to “Harassment at Madison Square Garden.” How can HR help? Is harassment happening at your workplace? Has it continued over time? If so, experts offer two explanations as to why: Either management is unaware (unlikely} […]

D.C. insight: OSHA, OFCCP stepping up enforcement

by Sophie E. Zdatny At a recent Employers Counsel Network (ECN) conference in Alexandria, Virginia, several notable speakers stopped by to provide their insights on current developments in the employment arena at the national level and to share their predictions for President Barack Obama’s second term. Highlights include increased regulatory activity from the Equal Employment […]

The Cost of Blowing Off a Baseless Bias Claim? $390,000

How should you respond to a discrimination complaint that appears to be completely unfounded? As GoDaddy, Inc. recently learned, even if the employee’s complaint appears to be baseless, you still must treat the complaint as serious and take all the same precautions you would with other bias complaints. If you don’t, you could be liable […]

Engage the Brain to Prevent Brain Drain

“We’re learning so much about how the brain retains information and recalls information over time,” says Tracy Bissette, chief learning architect at Weejee Learning (www.weejeelearning.com). Research shows that “the brain has to be actively focused on something” to retain information, she says. When learners are having fun, they are focused on the training topic and […]

Why Wait for the EEOC? Expert Clarifies ADAAA Requirements

Nearly two years after Congress passed the ADA Amendments Act (ADAAA), the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced recently that employers should not expect to see new regulations providing a more detailed explanation of the law’s requirements anytime soon. To understand the reasons for the delay and how it may affect employers, we spoke with […]

New Illinois law bans noncompetition agreements for low-wage workers

by Steven L. Brenneman The Illinois Freedom to Work Act, which will ban noncompetition agreements for low-wage private-sector employees, goes into effect on January 1. The law defines a “low-wage employee” as an employee who earns the greater of the applicable federal, state, or local minimum wage or $13 per hour. Therefore, the law initially […]