Practical HR Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
Qualifying longevity annuity contracts in 401(k) plans could significantly increase the retirement readiness of younger workers with longer life expectancies, the Employee Benefit Research Institute reported recently. Modeling two scenarios involving the recently approved QLACs, EBRI found that, while the general population might experience a “small reduction” in retirement readiness by purchasing a QLAC with […]
Based on recent case law, when it comes to social media, human resources (HR) professionals need to be mindful of the scope of their policies, as well as the context of employee comments on that platform, according to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). On Jan. 24, NLRB Acting General Counsel Lafe Solomon released his […]
A successor employer could not escape paying a $500,000 damages award for the previous owner’s Fair Labor Standards Act violations. The case, Teed et al. v. Thomas & Betts Power Solutions LLC, Nos. 12-2440, 12-3029 (7th Cir. March 26, 2013), involved a tricky analysis of whether the purchaser of a business could be held responsible […]
On November 19, 2013, Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC), a national association for the construction industry, filed a request for an injunction in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to stop the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) final rule affecting federal government contractors, including construction contractors. […]
Mary Jefferson, a teacher’s assistant for the California Youth Authority (CYA), said that a CYA teacher and his students regularly used derogatory language when referring to women, such as “bitch,” “whore” and “slut.” Jefferson filed a workers’ compensation claim, contending that she suffered work-related stress from a sexually hostile work environment. Jefferson also filed a […]
We need to know whether we can treat new employees differently as far as the benefits we offer them. For example, our policy says that with under five years of service, employees get two weeks of vacation. However, when we hire experienced people, they want us to match the vacation they had at their old […]
Is safety part of your portfolio yet? In more and more organizations, HR is taking over safety management. Fortunately, HR managers make great safety managers! In fact (don’t tell the safety people), they often do a better job than technical safety experts do. Why are HR managers so good at safety? Technical safety expertise is […]
“Hi, I just need to see every electronic file and e-mail relating to Steve Smith and his employees, colleagues, bosses, and customers from the last year, please.” Arrrgh! Discovery should be easy in an age of electronic wizardry, but it’s a nightmare. If your company is sued over an employment (or any legal) matter, the […]
As thousands of reservists are being called to military action in the Balkans and taking leave from their jobs, it’s a good time to brush up on the intricacies of the federal law that protects the rights of workers who serve in the armed forces. And a new federal court decision upholds the special benefits […]
For better or worse, the American workplace is different than it was, and perhaps also different from how we want it to be. HR managers have to bridge the gap, says attorney Christopher Leh. People want the workforce to be a family, where managers and employees can talk about anything and everything. But the fact […]