Practical HR Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
BusinessWeek magazine ranks the 15 best selling hardcover and paperback business books in April 2009 and gives a short summary. 1. Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell. As you’d expect with Gladwell, there are lots of surprises in his explanation of why some people succeed fantastically. Pluck and smarts get less play here […]
By BLR Founder and CEO Bob Brady Want to improve communication at your workplace? BLR’s CEO tells you how we do it in just 3 minutes a week. As regular readers of this column know, internal communication–up, down, and across–is always at the top of the agenda at BLR (and, I suspect, in many of […]
What do short stories by O. Henry and independent contractor analysis have in common? You’re left guessing the outcome until the very end, says attorney Deanna Brinkerhoff. The federal Department of Labor (DOL) is cracking down on classification, and that makes now an excellent time to evaluate your organization’s classification decisions.
The U.S. Supreme Court on May 18 unanimously vacated a federal appellate court ruling that found that employee retirement plan participants’ claims about fees applied to their plan were time-barred, sending a clear message that plan fiduciaries have an ongoing duty to monitor investments, their expenses and other related claims within that duty’s statute of […]
Employers in California will have to comply with what’s being called the strongest equal pay law in the nation when it takes effect on January 1, 2016. Governor Edmund G. Brown, Jr., signed the California Fair Pay Act, Senate Bill 358, on October 6. A statement from the governor’s office says current law prohibits employers […]
A few weeks ago, our company held its annual strategic planning session. In a meeting of our executive team, a consultant we work with shared an insight that I want to pass along. What did he say that I found so profound? He told us that successful leaders “make it clear which behaviors are most […]
To improve health and cut costs, a large corporation has begun firing smokers. But two attorneys are suggesting a better way. January is traditionally a month in which people resolve to change their habits. Those who overeat try to diet. Those who disdain exercise suddenly discover the corner gym. And those who smoke …well, if […]
In a time when creative growth and technological advancements are crucial to business success, companies are becoming increasingly aware of the importance of hiring and retaining talented employees.
We’re trying to straighten out our auto reimbursement policy. First, we have employees who drive their own cars between worksites each day as well as to different sites each day. The miles vary from 10 up to 100 miles in a day. Do we have to reimburse them and, if so, at what rate? We […]
Unless Congress acts soon, employees will once again have less to use for mass transit expenses under qualified transportation fringe benefit plans, and employers will once again have to lower the limits they allow under QTFBs at the end of the year. The mass transit component of QTFBs, which covers expenses incurred in commuting to […]