Tag: news

United States reaches cap on H-1B visas in five days

It took just under a week for the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to take in enough H-1B visa petitions to reach the statutory cap for fiscal year 2015, which begins on October 1, 2014. The USCIS announced April 7 that it received sufficient petitions to meet the caps of 65,000 visas for the […]

April 25 date set for Northwestern football union vote

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has scheduled an April 25 union representation vote for Northwestern University football players. Spokespersons in both the Chicago and Washington, D.C., NLRB offices confirmed that the April 25 date has been set but didn’t have more information such as which players will be eligible to vote and when results […]

Treasury Department finalizes rule on hiring women, minorities

by Judith E. Kramer The U.S. Treasury Department has issued a final rule requiring that any entity that enters into a contract with the department make good-faith efforts to include minorities and women in its workforce. The new rule goes into effect April 21. The requirement grows out of the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act, which states […]

Connecticut’s minimum wage will jump to $10.10 per hour in 2017

by Jonathan C. Sterling On March 27, Governor Dannel Malloy signed a law that will increase Connecticut’s minimum wage in each of the next three years. The minimum wage will rise to $10.10 per hour in 2017. You may remember that just last year, a law was passed to increase the minimum wage to $8.70 […]

Safety and Health Training for the Public Sector

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) jurisdiction doesn’t extend to the public sector, but that doesn’t mean the agency is neglecting the safety and health of state and local government employees. Late last year, OSHA launched a new certificate program for public sector employees titled Public Sector Safety and Health Fundamentals. Aimed at training […]

Comment period nears end for NLRB ‘quickie election’ rule

by Lauren E.M. Russell April 7 marks the end of the comment period for proposed rules from the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) that would shorten the time needed to hold union representation elections. This latest effort is the second time the NLRB has broached the subject of what foes call “quickie elections.” The first […]

NLRB regional director orders union election for Northwestern football players

A regional director of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has ruled that football players at Northwestern University are entitled to a union election because they’re essentially employees of the private university located in Evanston, Illinois. Peter Sung Ohr, Region 13 director of the NLRB, issued an order on March 26 that a union representation […]

OFCCP releases resources to help contractors comply with new regulations

The U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) has posted information on its website to help federal contractors comply with the new regulations pertaining to the Vietnam Era Veterans’ Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA) and Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act. The new resources are: The VEVRAA benchmark database; The Disability […]

Best Practices in Workforce Training and Development

From day one of employment, associates at Capital One Financial Corporation have access to a variety of award-winning training and development opportunities. Capital One (www.capitalone.com), a McLean, Virginia-based financial holding company, was recently named to FORTUNE magazine’s list of “100 Best Companies to Work For” and Training magazine’s Training Top 125. Both magazines honored Capital […]

Best Practices in Training: Wellness Coaching That Works!

In a pilot project over a 12-month period, more than half of participants in a pilot program sponsored by Onlife Health, a national health and wellness company, and Government Employees Health Association (GEHA), a national health plan for federal employees, lowered their blood pressure through education, coaching, and monitoring. Onlife coaches worked with GEHA members […]