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The ‘D Word’

By Linda F. Willing Just My E-pinion Today’s guest columnist says that diversity training is not the same as harassment training, and it shouldn’t focus on the dire outcome of lawsuits. I recently did a presentation entitled “Leading Diverse Teams” as part of a large national conference. Following the session, one of the nearly 200 […]

Women & Money

Web Editor Wendi Watts reviews the book Women & Money by Suze Orman. Review explains how book can aid HR with effective communication with employees about financial issues. With her usual down-to-earth style, Suze Orman tackles the subject of women’s complicated relationship with money in her book Women & Money: Owning the Power to Control […]

‘Happiness Haters’ Unite Against Harvard Study

By BLR Founder and CEO Bob Brady Harvard says we need happiness at work. But BLR’s founder says something else is even more important. Once again Harvard University scholars have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to “discover” the obvious. After considerable research, the Harvardians concluded that workplaces are more productive when people are positive, […]

Health Benefits: New COBRA Rules Announced

After a 13-year wait, the Internal Revenue Service has just released its comprehensive regulations covering COBRA health benefits continuation coverage. The new regulations-which are a complex mix of final and so-called proposed rules-clarify several gray areas of the law but don’t change the basic COBRA mandates, including the detailed notice requirements. Even though the rules […]

Finding a way to drive gender diversity in STEM fields

Most employers would agree that STEM careers—jobs in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics—are on the upswing in both numbers and importance. Most also would agree that there are far more men than women in STEM jobs. A 2011 report from the U.S. Department of Commerce, “Women in STEM: A Gender Gap to Innovation,” signals a […]

Managers Think It’s All About the Money (Employees Disagree)

Special from the Advanced Employment Issues Symposium, Las Vegas When employees and their managers are asked about what they value at work, the answers are surprisingly different, says consultant Andrew Botwin SPHR. That disconnect will result in expensive turnover. Botwin, who is CEO of SPC (Strategy People Culture) Consulting, offered his engagement tips at BLR’s […]

Your Leaders: Forged in a Holiday Inn Express?

By BLR Founder and CEO Bob Brady BLR founder and CEO Bob Brady says the results of a recent study underscore the vital role of HR in selecting and nurturing your organization’s leaders. Once again well-credentialed academics from an esteemed university (this time the University of California at Berkeley) have spent time and money “discovering” […]

Obama Signs Bill Eliminating ACA’s Auto-enrollment Requirement

Large employers with 200 and more employees will not have to automatically enroll their workforces into health plans, under budget legislation signed by President Obama. This Affordable Care Act provision was repealed because it was a low government priority and because business objected to it. Rules explaining the provision were never issued and it never took […]

Hire Me (I Update FaceBook Every 15 Minutes)

You’re going to find out interesting things about potential employees online, says attorney Eric Meyer—like how often they update FaceBook—and some of what you find is going to be information you would NEVER ask about in an interview. What are you going to find out online? Gender is typically no surprise, says Meyer. It’s likely […]

OFCCP Reveals Glimpses of Enforcement Plans Targeting Federal Contractors

Early Tuesday morning, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) resumed its ongoing series of agency Web chats with a brief session hosted by Patricia Shiu, the director of the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP). The OFCCP enforces the civil rights of both federal contractor employees as well as applicants for federal contractor jobs. […]