Month: November 2008

Canadian Employer Uses Arbitration to Recover Losses from Employee’s Theft

by Brian Smeenk TFI Transport (doing business as Canadian Freightways) had a bit of a theft problem in its Calgary terminal in 2005 and 2006. The company was losing television sets and generators. It conducted an investigation and was able to prove that one of its employees, Wayne Spence, had either stolen or was knowingly […]

‘Oh, Sure–She’s Exempt.’ Uh Huh.

Today we look at misclassification—the third of “The Big Three” compensation challenges (see yesterday’s Advisor for the other two)—and a new in-depth audio conference series that will answer the tricky technical questions about exemptions. Misclassification can lead to big-bucks fines and lawsuits. First, if you’ve misclassified one employee as exempt, you’ve probably misclassified many others […]

Hot List: Bestselling Business Books on Amazon.com

Amazon.com updates its list of the bestselling business books every hour. Here is a snapshot of what is hot right now, this Monday morning, November 17, in the “Management and Leadership” category. 1. The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable by Nassim Nicholas Taleb. You probably don’t realize it, but life is a […]

FLSA Lawsuits—Throttle ‘The Big Three’

Wage and hour just shouldn’t be that hard, but the lawsuits keep coming, and the dollar amounts are staggering—especially when class actions amplify fees, fines, and judgments. What’s the problem? A number of factors make wage and hour a challenge: Many of the decisions about overtime, break time, meal time, and hours of work are […]

Recruiting Teenagers: Program Lures Future Talent

The early bird catches the worm — and the best employees. At least that’s the thinking of the Association of Corporate Counsel and the Street Law organization, which are working together to encourage young people of color to extend their educations and consider law-related careers. Among other things, their Corporate Legal Diversity Pipeline program pairs […]

Diversity Programs: Not Just About “Soft” Skills

Diversity programs have moved beyond sensitivity training. A new survey of more than 2,500 senior HR and training executives revealed a wide variety of diversity initiatives and program elements. The most common? Leadership development. “Just a few years ago, diversity programs usually meant just awareness training. Those programs were separate from other hard and soft […]

International Day: Give Thanks and Decrease Turnover

November is anchored by the Thanksgiving holiday, but it also contains the United Nations’ International Day for Tolerance  making it the perfect time to thank your diverse group of employees, and celebrate their differences. That’s what Henry Schein’s Indianapolis Distribution Center does every year around this time. “In 2004, in part arising out of a […]

Cell Company to Pay $435,000 for Unequal Wages

A New York-based company that refurbishes cell phones at its factory in Long Island will pay $435,000 to settle a wage discrimination and retaliation suit brought by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). The agency charged that First Wireless Group, Inc., engaged in a pattern or practice of race and/or national origin discrimination against […]

American Indian and Alaska Native Heritage Month

The first American Indian Day was celebrated in May 1916 in New York. Red Fox James, a Blackfeet Indian, rode horseback from state to state getting endorsements from 24 state governments to have a day to honor American Indians. In 1990, President George H.W. Bush signed a joint congressional resolution designating November 1990 as “National […]

New FMLA Regulations Issued by DOL

Final regulations under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), were issued Friday by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL). The new regulations allow employers more control over when employees can take leave. As expected, the new regulations cover the recently enacted leave benefits for family members of both seriously injured or ill service members and […]