Practical HR Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
It may come as a surprise that employers can now be sued if co-workers harass an employee who has made a workplace complaint. A recent Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals decision has broadened the liability of employers for retaliation to include not just supervisors’ acts, but also the hostile conduct of other employees. We’ll offer […]
Employees are happier with their benefits when a wellness program is offered—and happier still when that wellness program includes a financial wellness component, according to a new survey released by Four Seasons Financial Education (FSFE).
BusinessWeek magazine ranks the 15 best selling hardcover and paperback business books in January 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 […]
The quest to escape the upward premium spiral has hurt some small employers. Some have been hurt by fly-by-night Multiple Employer Welfare Arrangements (MEWAs) that ended up being unable to pay claims, says the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL). In its quest to stop such MEWAs, DOL is proposing new enforcement and oversight rules. DOL […]
Recently, Yahoo! sued startup MForma Group, Inc., a wireless content provider based in San Francisco, claiming that a group of seven Yahoo! workers left the Internet giant to join MForma, taking trade secrets with them–including proprietary source code and other confidential business information. The lawsuit included charges that one former employee, David Chang, copied over […]
By Saul C. Glazer Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., has agreed to pay $11.7 million in back wages and compensatory damages, its share of employer taxes, and up to $250,000 in administration fees and will furnish other relief, including jobs, to settle a sex discrimination lawsuit filed by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). The settlement illustrates […]
By BLR Editor, Elaine V. QuayleJust My E-pinion With the World Series starting next week, your workers will be watching baseball. But a BLR editor says they can also learn from baseball. As a human resources editor—and baseball fan—I wanted to write about the valuable lessons that HR professionals can glean from Cal Ripken Jr.’s […]
On Tuesday, President Obama signed the $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Obama called the package the “first part” of a larger strategy to help give the nation’s economy a boost. While some of the finer details are still being worked out, the package does include benefits that employers and employees alike […]
Following his inauguration on January 20, President Donald Trump signed his first round of Executive Orders, including one directing federal agencies to ease enforcement of some Affordable Care Act (ACA) requirements. Trump told agencies to “waive, defer, grant exemptions from, or delay the implementation of”ACA provisions that impose fees or other burdens on a range […]
No matter how devoted to the job employees may be, their lives extend beyond the workplace. And an increasing number of employees are finding that their non-work responsibilities include eldercare. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported in September 2013 that 39.6 million people were providing unpaid eldercare in 2011-2012. Many of those caregivers were […]