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11 Questions to Answer for Your PTO Policy

PTO policies are considered easier to administer than separate vacation, sick, child care, etc., but there are many policy issues to be decided before your program runs smoothly and avoids lawsuits, says attorney Katherine Marques. Unfortunately, to complicate matters, many state laws (and some city laws) cover sick time and/or vacation time, so proceed with […]

FCRA and Background Checks: Common Employer Questions and Best Practices

When considering a job applicant, you’ll likely want to investigate the person’s work history, education, criminal record, financial past, and medical information. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) regulates such background checks (or “consumer reports”) through the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), a lengthy, complex set of laws that can be quite daunting to employers. Here […]

people

Building an Entrepreneurial Team

When we think of entrepreneurs, we have a tendency to think of well-known visionaries like Walt Disney, Steve Jobs, and Bill Gates. Interestingly, while each of these men went on to run very large organizations, we also have a tendency to think of entrepreneurs as being part of very small or one-person organizations.

Reader’s Story: Toilet Talk or Dirty Seat? Clean It Up

Bathrooms have been the setting of many Strange but True! tales. From applicants taking telephone interviews on the toilet, to ex-employees swiping tissue paper, bathrooms bring out some bizarre behavior. This week, we’re sharing a reader’s story about how HR had to clean up a messy issue. “We had a female employee that was urinating […]

Why Proper Worker Classification Is So Important

Ensuring the proper classification of workers is a concern for many reasons. Taxes, employment laws and employee benefits are the main ones. Have you run into situations where you were unsure of whether a worker should be classified as an employee or contractor?

skills

The Half-Life of Skills

We’ve entered the Age of Acceleration—a time when change is happening faster and faster. As the workplace continues to move more rapidly, so does the market value of skills.

training

Training: A Look at Some Top Companies and Best Practices

Businesses in the United States compete in a top-notch, knowledge-based economy against both domestic and global rivals. For the most part, competitive advantage is based not on having the best machinery, the most productive land, or the greatest access to natural resources but on having the best people: the smartest, the most driven, the most […]

pregnant

Maternity and Paternity Leave in the United States

Perhaps you’ve heard the statistics in the news lately: the United States lags behind most other nations in terms of how much guaranteed maternity and paternity leave is provided to employees. In fact, it shocks some people in other countries to learn that there is no mandated maternity and paternity leave at all!

productivity

Tips to Increase Employee Productivity

Getting productivity levels up is something all managers and HR team members have a vested interest in. Keeping the organization running at optimum levels is the best way to know when new hires are needed and also to be most effective in spending payroll dollars.