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Another Ruling in the Business Tryst Injury Case

Earlier this year, we reported on a business trip tryst that ended up in court. If you missed it, here’s what happened. An Australia public servant (we’ll call her “Susan”) worked in the human relations section of a government agency. On a business trip, Susan had a rendezvous with a male friend in her motel […]

Investigation Complete? Don’t Relax Yet–There’s Work to Be Done

Think you have completed your investigation because you’ve interviewed your witnesses? Not so fast–there’s a lot more to do. Attorney Walter Stella, a partner in the San Francisco-based law firm of Shook, Hardy & Bacon, LLP, talked about the pitfalls of investigations during a SHRM Employment Law and Legislative Conference in Washington, DC. After the […]

HHS Working On Developing Better Zika Diagnostics

Good news if you have employees who travel: The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHR) is working on improving diagnostic tests for the Zika virus by supporting the collection of blood samples from people in the continental United States and Puerto Rico who have been infected with Zika. These samples will be collected […]

You’re the Expert: Inappropriate Comments

That radio character, Don Imus, who got fired for his inappropriate comments? I think I’ve got a few Imuses in my company. How do I get the “good ol’ boys” to toe the line and stop with their insensitive jokes and actions?

Is Work/life Balance the New Retention Solution?

Demographics and generational attitudes are coming together to make substantial flexibility demands on employers. That’s why work/life balance, once a nice-to-talk-about concept, has moved to the front burner in many organizations. Boomers have the skills you want to retain, but these days they want more time off. Gen X and Gen Y workers, similarly skillful, […]

Another Strike Against Wal-Mart in Quebec: Arbitrator Imposes Collective Agreement

For the last five years, two Wal-Mart big-box stores in Quebec have been the subject of certification applications filed by the United Food and Commercial Workers Union (UFCW). The first store to be unionized was located in the town of Jonquière. Wal-Mart decided to close down that operation in 2005 immediately after the union applied […]

Few Self-Insured Plans Will Escape Paying Reinsurance Fees

Only self-insured plans that completely self-administer claims payments and plan operations will avoid paying onerous transitional reinsurance fees. If a self-insured health plan does no more than determine eligibility, it will have to pay, according to Jeffrey Endick, an attorney with Slevin & Hart in Washington D.C. An exception exists to the onerous fee $63 per-member-per-year fee: Self-insured […]

"I Thought PTO Was Supposed to Be Easy!"

PTO (Paid Time Off) has been plugged as the new, better way to manage time off. Is it? Maybe, but there are pitfalls. Two experts explain how to implement a program that appeals to employees, encourages productivity, and doesn’t violate the law. Vacation time, sick time, personal time—who’s got the time … to keep track […]

Small Decencies: King Wenceslas’ Job and Yours

At this time of year, we remember King Wenceslas, the 10th-century monarch who took food and firewood to the poor. That small decency was long ago, but author and company CEO Steve Harrison reminds us that small decencies, day after day, still build great companies. A CEO is the business leader, but a CEO is […]