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Do Your Workers Know How to Respond to Workplace Violence?

Violent behavior can erupt anywhere. Consider these statistics: Homicide is the third-leading cause of work-related deaths. According to studies, as many as 1 million Americans each year are the victims of nonfatal work-related assaults. While the highest percentage of workplace assaults are in the service, healthcare, and retail industries, incidents of violence occur in all […]

Your Compensation Scorecard: What to Measure and How

Scorecards are powerful aids for improving pay for performance, reducing entitlement, and, often, increasing employee acceptance of your pay program, says Consultant David Insler. Compensation Scorecards A compensation scorecard is any dissemination of aggregate compensation information beyond the HR organization. There are several types of scorecards, says Insler, who is the senior vice president at […]

Are Your Job Application Procedures Lawsuit-Resistant?

Job applications and interview notes should hold relevant information on the basis of hiring decisions and should document the valid reasons for selecting or rejecting applicants. Read on for more best practices. A best practice for job applications is to require a signed application from all candidates—and not just a submitted resume. This gives the […]

DOL Would Extend FMLA Rights to Same-Sex Couples

The U.S. Department of Labor has announced a proposed rule that would change the Family and Medical Leave Act’s regulatory definition of “spouse” so that an eligible employee in a legal same-gender marriage will be able to take FMLA leave for his or her spouse or family member regardless of the state in which the employee resides. […]

Massachusetts set for highest minimum wage in U.S.

by Susan G. Fentin Massachusetts is set to soon have the highest minimum wage in the country. On June 26, Governor Deval Patrick signed a bill that will raise the state’s minimum wage from $8 per hour to $11 an hour by 2017, the highest statewide minimum wage in the country and a full 50 […]

Lactation intolerance

When Karlesha Thurman got ready for her college graduation ceremony, she probably had no idea that she would be picking up international news coverage along with her accounting degree. Thurman’s three-month-old daughter became hungry during the festivities and Thurman did what countless other mothers have done–she nursed her hungry baby. A friend snapped a photograph […]

When Harry left Sally: employers’ obligation to offer insurance postdivorce

by Kathryn M. Grigg Although employers may want to avoid the uncomfortable topic with employees, you can’t avoid your legal obligations to an employee’s former spouse postdivorce. For a period of time after a divorce, you’re required to offer health insurance continuation and conversion benefits to an employee’s former spouse and dependents. Here’s a summary […]

Employers Can Stretch Waiting Periods beyond 90 Days Using HHS’s 30-day Orientation Period

Employers now can get an extra 30 days on top of the 90 days by which employers must have offered health coverage to eligible workers, under new final rules on orientation periods issued by the U.S. Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services and the Treasury. The final rules, published on June 25 in the Federal […]

Obama’s three NLRB recess appointments were invalid, Supreme Court rules

On June 26, 2014, the U.S Supreme Court unanimously upheld the decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in Noel Canning v. NLRB, concluding that President Barack Obama’s three recess appointments to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB)—Sharon Block, Richard Griffin, and Terence Flynn—were not valid.  Accordingly, since three out of the […]