Practical HR Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
According to the most recent Regional and State Employment and Unemployment Summary from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, state and regional unemployment rates continued their upward climb throughout the month of March. Forty-six states reported unemployment rate increases in March, and all 50 states and the District of Columbia have higher rates than they did […]
Litigation Value: $250,000 The “Café Disco” episode of The Office might as well have been called “The Hostile Work Environment.” Or “The No Work Environment.” Dunder Mifflin Scranton turned into a coffee house dance bar at the expense of any corporate productivity. A hostile work environment exists when an employee experiences workplace harassment and fears […]
Managing absenteeism can be a significant challenge for Canadian employers. A wide variety of factual situations may be complicated by employment standards, privacy and human rights laws, as well as any applicable union agreements. An example of the potential challenges of implementing an attendance management program (AMP) is the decade-long battle between Coast Mountain Bus […]
Ontario is looking to reduce violence and harassment in the workplace. To that end, Bill 168, An Act to amend the Occupational Health and Safety Act with respect to violence and harassment in the workplace, received first reading on April 20, 2009. Bill 168, if passed, would amend the Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA). […]
Litigation Value: $0 Since Troy is away on business, I’m guest-blogging again. And what a week to do so –- there’s a lot to talk about from the “Casual Friday” episode. Although many HR folks can appreciate HR director Toby Flenderson’s dilemma dealing with employees taking casual Friday too far, there wasn’t a lot in […]
Times have changed. Borders, too. Frequent business travelers know that and leave earlier to allow for longer security controls. But they are sometimes astonished when a border officer declares them inadmissible to Canada for criminality. A new environment Nowadays, border officers work in an enforcement environment. A much greater emphasis is now put on security […]
By Carol A. Hacker If you are a younger manager with responsibility for managing people who are older than you, you know what a challenge it can be. One of the biggest challenges for younger managers lies in how they are going to supervise people who are older than them, have more experience than they […]
by Don Harrison Dealing with workers’ compensation administrators (or claims adjusters or attorneys) can be as frustrating as trying to decode a teenager’s text messages — KWIM (know what I mean)? This week, we thought we’d provide you a cheat sheet to help you make sense of the workers’ comp world. Audio Conference: Workers’ Comp […]
Question and answer session with Hal Adler Q: Why is succession planning so important in a tough economy? Hal: Look at it this way. We’ve seen dramatic rebounds in the stock market. This thing could turn around as fast as it got here, but regardless of how long it takes, employers don’t want to be […]
Litigation Value: $0 – 300,000 Well, it didn’t take long for the Michael Scott Paper Company to go broke. Surprisingly, it wasn’t because of any judgments for sexual harassment, unfair competition, or defamation. Not surprisingly, it was because of irresponsible pricing. During its short tenure, Michael’s company could have been sued several times. Unfortunately, it […]