Practical HR Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
Identifying Key Positions and Skills A critical step in the process is to specifically identify the key positions that will be targeted in the succession plan. This usually includes management-level positions. It may also include highly specialized jobs that are essential to the company’s ability to meet current or future goals. Once the positions are […]
We can’t avoid a simple fact—We’re dealing with an aging workforce. For example, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that over one-third of the civilian employees working for the federal government are eligible for retirement. The same situation exists, but to a somewhat lesser degree, in the workforce as a whole. Companies can’t duck the […]
A supervisor’s apparent bias in the firing of her employee proved costly in a recent 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling which upheld a decision by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, Eastern Division awarding $413,000 in damages and liquidated damages in an FMLA retaliation claim based on cat’s-paw liability. […]
“Most of all, you want people to see your hands,” she says. “Do not put them in your pockets, behind your back, or behind a podium.” If you don’t keep your hands where your audience can see them, people will perceive you as being “untrustworthy.” “If an audience does not trust the presenter, or at […]
Mandatory mental health counseling is a “medical examination” regulated by the Americans with Disabilities Act, according to the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Therefore, a requirement that an employee undergo such counseling is subject to all of ADA’s rules and restrictions; specifically, one that prohibits employers from requiring medical exams that are not job-related […]
The off-week hours of rotational workers may count against FMLA leave, a federal judge reluctantly decided in a recent U.S. District Court ruling. The Oklahoma judge ruled for a trucking firm in an FMLA interference claim by a fired dispatcher who failed to return to work after he exhausted his 12 weeks of job-protected FMLA […]
A federal disability policy agency sent a report and letter to the Obama administration on Aug. 23 urging a phase out of a controversial provision of the Fair Labor Standards Act that allows certified employers to compensate persons with disabilities at wages below the federal minimum wage. The FLSA section in question — section 14(c) […]
Ignorance regarding recent amendments to the Americans with Disabilities Act is no excuse for noncompliance; employers “should get up to speed” on these changes, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission said in announcing a settlement agreement this week. The agency added that the ADA amendments make it clear that employers should not overanalyze whether an […]
“Best Practices” means “what most experienced large multinationals have been doing”—that doesn’t mean those practices best for your organization. You have to decide that for yourself, says Fisher, principal at Chicago-based consultant Laurus Strategies. Fisher was joined by colleague Patrick Gallagher for his presentation at SHRM’s Annual Conference and Exhibition, held recently in Atlanta, Georgia. […]
As an employer, you might think that there’s a clear difference between taking part in casual conversations with your employees versus receiving notice of an impending FMLA leave. After all, dropping hints in the lunchroom about ailing parents, sick kids or personal health issues doesn’t qualify these days as giving official leave notification, does it? […]