Practical HR Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
Often, the first document a new employee reads is the company handbook. A handbook serves many purposes, among them introducing the employer’s culture, communicating important policies, and setting employee expectations. If approached thoughtfully, a handbook is also a key tool for minimizing exposure to litigation.
In a tight labor market, you need to stay aware of what compensation and benefits your competitors are offering. Here’s a way to do it … at the click of a mouse. Yesterday’s Daily Advisor detailed a study by the Charlton Consulting Group on how employees greatly underestimate the cost of benefits to employers. The […]
HR professionals have long wondered how to make the mandates of FMLA work in their businesses. A solid briefing can help. On October 17, we’ll deliver one. Yesterday’s Daily Advisor reported on the upsurge in family responsibilities discrimination (FRD) lawsuits. According to those tracking the actions, the number of suits filed for adverse job actions […]
The following 7 deadly sins were explained by Sandra Rappaport, Esq., an attorney at the San Francisco office of law firm Hanson Bridgett LLP. Rappaport made her remarks at ERI’s recent 2010 California Employment Law Update conference, held at the Westin St. Francis in San Francisco.
The process of assessing and diagnosing mental health issues in a potential employee is complicated. Certain questions can offer valuable information about an individual’s behavior and reactions to work situations.
Under California’s wage garnishment law, you can be required to withhold part of an employee’s wages to pay a bill collector, ex-spouse or other creditor. A new change in the law lets you charge employees a small fee every time you make a payment based on a garnishment order. Here’s a quick refresher on your […]
by David M. Stevens On the final day of its legislative session, the Maryland General Assembly passed a bill to dramatically raise the state’s minimum wage. The bill, which was supported by Governor Martin O’Malley and is expected to be signed into law, calls for a staggered increase in the minimum wage over a period […]
This morning the Department of Labor (DOL) hosted its final two agency agenda web chat sessions, beginning with an hour-long segment hosted by the Wage and Hour Division (WHD). Deputy Administrator Nancy Leppink fielded questions and provided insight toward the Division’s current regulatory initiatives. The agenda priorities for the Division in the Spring agenda include […]
In today’s we-want-to-be-the-employer-of-choice world, isn’t it counterintuitive to be telling each new employee, “We can fire you for any reason or no reason”? In the face of the numerous exceptions to employment-at-will status (see yesterday’s Advisor), why would any company bother with at-will statements? Even though it may seem wrong from a morale standpoint, and […]
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 […]