Most Popular

Performance Management Survey—What’s Really Happening?

Performance management is not only important for identifying your high potential employees, but it also has a great impact on your compensation programs and documentation practices. What’s happening with performance management in the real world? What are your competitors up to? Help us find out!

Is Unlimited Time Off the Answer?

The phrase “time off” can put a smile on the face of almost anyone with a job. When you place the word “paid” before it, the smile gets broader and the daydreaming begins. There is another word that, when included at the beginning of the phrase, may be the most powerful yet. That word is […]

Employee Internet Use: Worker Waived Privacy Expectations By Signing Agreement That Employer Could Monitor Computer Use; Creating An Internet Policy

Because employee Internet access in the workplace can raise the potential for abuse and misuse, some employers monitor their employees’ Internet activities. But this in turn raises concerns about employees’ right to privacy. An important new California Court of Appeal decision addresses this issue head-on, ruling that an employee who consented to employer monitoring had […]

DOL Hires 250 New Wage and Hour Investigators

If a recent news release from U.S. Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis is any indication, 2010 may prove to be a year of ramped-up enforcement from the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL). In her November 19 statement, Secretary Solis sent a clear message about the enforcement and outreach efforts occurring within the DOL’s Wage and […]

FMLA and ADA Interplay Part I: Basic Statutory Obligations

Although the legal requirements of the FMLA and the ADA are similar in some regards, at times an employer may find that the requirements of one law contradict the other, and the employer cannot comply with both laws. In these cases, it is important to know which law takes precedence, or “trumps,” the other.  Read […]

The cost of not providing references

By Louise Béchamp Many employers’ policies preclude them from providing reference letters. Other employers have no policies. And yet others have policies but do not consistently apply them. The Court of Appeal of Québec’s recent decision in Arsenault (Succession de) v. École Sacré-Cœur de Montréal (available in French only) should give Canadian employers pause for […]

DOL issues updated FMLA forms

by Amanda Shelby The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issues forms for employers to use in the administration of Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) leave. On the heels of the old forms expiring earlier this year, the DOL has issued new forms. The revisions update the expired forms to reference the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination […]

Can Employees Choose to Work Instead of Take a Meal Break?

The California Supreme Court is currently considering the scope of employer meal break obligations under state law. The question before the court is whether employers must only “provide” a meal break, or “ensure” that employees take meal breaks. There’s no indication of when the court will be making its ruling.