Practical HR Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
It’s nearly impossible to go even a day without seeing news headlines about the latest layoffs. Many employers find themselves desperately brainstorming how they can reduce expenses without having to reduce their workforces. Reducing the number of hours for exempt employees is one option that can provide budget relief, but employers should take care that […]
by Derek Knoechel Morley Shafron sold his Vancouver-based insurance agency business in 1987 for $700,000 in cash and shares. He became a shareholder and director of the surviving company and agreed to provide management services. The agreement included a non-competition clause that would take effect if he left the company. The clause would prohibit him […]
by Martin Denyes As Ontario employers reduce their workforces and potentially look to smaller numbers of remaining employees to take on increasing workloads, February is the time to review existing excess hours agreements and permits and overtime averaging agreements and permits. Legislation requiring permits and agreements for hours in excess of 48 in a week […]
The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) changes, in effect less than a month, will probably help employers in the long run. But for now, there’s a welter of tricky little changes to cope with. Here are more tips and news about an updated, comprehensive guidance tool. Medical Information Now Easier to Obtain: In the […]
BusinessWeek magazine ranks the 15 best selling hardcover and paperback business books in January 2009 and gives a short summary. 1. Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell. As you’d expect with Gladwell, there are lots of surprises in his explanation of why some people succeed fantastically. Pluck and smarts get less play here […]
Everything going smoothly with the new FMLA regs? They are now officially a few weeks old, but many HR managers fear the hassles are just beginning. The Department of Labor (DOL) says the revisions were designed to clarify the requirements and to improve communication between employers and employees. To some extent, these goals may be […]
Update from HR News: Read the latest news proposals to extend the COBRA subsidy Sandwiched in with all the infrastructure development and green energy provisions of President Barack Obama and the Democrat’s economic stimulus plan are several provisions that affect employee benefits, particularly health benefits. The stimulus bill is called the American Recovery and Reinvestment […]
by David S. Fortney At the end of his first full week in office, President Barack Obama took swift action to change employment and labor law. On January 28, he signed the Lilly Lebedetter Fair Pay Act, which relaxes the statute of limitation within which workers can file pay discrimination claims. On January 29, President […]
An employee comes to you asking to take time off to meet with school officials because his child was suspended. Do you have to grant the request? What about for jury duty, or because the employee witnessed a crime? Are you required to permit employees time off to vote? In addition to the big leave […]
Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Crawford v. Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County that Title VII’s anti-retaliation provision extends to an employee who speaks out about discrimination while answering questions during an employer’s internal investigation.