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Bad Boss! Bad Boss! What’cha Gonna Do?

Bad or abusive bosses can demoralize and decimate a workforce. Here’s what to do if you (like nearly 45 percent of workers, according to a recent survey), find yourself facing one. Although adapting the theme from TV’s COPS may be a bit strong to describe having a bad or abusive boss (few have to be […]

You Violated a Safety Rule—Comp or No Comp?

In yesterday’s Advisor, we looked at two informative comp cases. Today, another case, plus an introduction to the one-stop, online HR problem solver, HR.BLR.com. If you violated a safety rule and were injured, do you get workers’ compensation? When Peter Mars first joined Bowman Company as a machine operator, his supervisor, Jim Larson, gave him […]

Preventing Equal Pay Problems—Part 1: Why Employee Fired After Salary Complaint Won Over $1 Million

Most employers are familiar with the basic concept of equal pay for equal work. But it’s critical to understand the details of the rules because you can be liable for hefty damages and penalties if you make a mistake. In Part 1 of our series on preventing equal pay problems, we’ll explain what your obligations […]

Dump Your Health Insurer for Good!

You may be able to do it by self-insuring. It’s not just for “big business” anymore, says BLR’s Best Practices in Compensation & Benefits newsletter. Self-Insurance Doesn’t this phrase have a siren song, especially when it comes to healthcare coverage? Just think about it. You take the premiums paid to your current health carrier and […]

The ‘Easy’ Way to Deal with Problem Employees

A longtime employee who gets a “24-hour bug” every other week, usually on a sunny Friday. A sales rep who smashes quota one month but slacks off the next. The line supervisor who is “just a few minutes” late most days.  Recognize any of these folks? If you’re in HR, you do. Problem employees. You’re […]

Pepsi Pays $3M to Settle Race Case Based on Background Check Policy

By Jennifer Melton On January 11, 2012, Pepsi Beverages Company agreed to pay more than $3 million to resolve race discrimination claims filed in 2006 by more than 300 African American job applicants. The claims alleged that the company’s criminal background check policy (1) disproportionately excluded African Americans from employment with Pepsi and (2) violated […]

Nondisabled Employees May Challenge Medical Exams

Employees need not have a disability to challenge the legality of an employer’s required medical exams, the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled in a case of first impression. At the same time, the court also reaffirmed the ability of an employer to request an examination because it was related to performing a […]

Hearing on ‘Radical’ OSHA Change Set for July

“Prison terms of up to 10 years could be imposed on officers and directors of companies that knowingly violate OSHA rules under a proposed revision to the Occupational Safety and Health Act now advancing through Congress,” reported Jim Stanley, a former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Labor, on his Workplace Safety blog. He said that the […]