Month: May 2010

Amnesty for Aliens: Good for the Country (and Your Company) or Bad?

By HRDA Editor Stephen D. Bruce, PHR Just My E-Pinion A recent question to the BLR® HR Forum about amnesty for illegal aliens generated an interesting set of responses, all well-reasoned, although not all agreeing. The question was: Just wondering what my HR colleagues think of granting mass amnesty to illegal aliens currently residing in […]

Early Retirement Program’s Launch Date Moved Up

A part of the massive health care reform law aimed at encouraging employers to offer health insurance to early retirees is set to launch June 1. Regulations for the Early Retirement Reinsurance Program were issued by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on May 4. The program will provide $5 billion for […]

DOL Plans Will Encourage More Lawsuits

In yesterday’s Advisor, Attorney Christine Walters, SPHR, covered classification and deduction challenges. Today, her take on inclement weather and DOL’s plans, plus an introduction to a unique checklist-based HR audit system. Walters is an independent consultant with FiveL Company in Westminster, Maryland. Her remarks came at the recent Society for Human Resources Management Legal and […]

OSHA Announces Details on I2P2 Stakeholder Meetings

During a series of Web chats held last week, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) unveiled an ambitious prevention program as part of its spring regulatory agenda. The program, known as I2P2, is a major paradigm shift for the department, and as a result, input on the development of the program will be worked […]

3 ADA Accommodation Scenarios

Accommodation for workers with disabilities. “Sometimes it can be overwhelming,” concedes the Job Accommodation Network (JAN). But a good job description is a “constructive tool” for focusing on reasonable accommodations. JAN is a service of the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Disability Employment Policy. JAN offers the following accommodation scenarios to show how to […]

To Pay or Not to Pay: Wage and Hour Is Heating Up

The number one question topic in HR is still FMLA, but wage and hour is now a close second, says Attorney Christine Walters, SPHR. You might think that people would have wage and hour down by now, but no. First, wage and hour lawsuits are coming hard and fast. Walters offered a few examples of […]

Prehiring Credit Checks Restricted in Alberta

By Lorene Novakowski Employers are often tasked with creating systems to reduce employee theft or fraud. Such systems can include many things including credit checks on potential employees. Recently, Mark’s Work Wearhouse in Alberta was stunned to learn that such credit checks weren’t permissible in the circumstances — even when a number of other measures […]

What to Do When Investigation Implicates HR?

One of the trickiest moments in HR is when your investigation shows that your department is implicated. In today’s Advisor, Denise Kay, Esq., tackles that challenge, and we get a look at a special program just for smaller HR departments. Kay, who is SPHR certified, is president of Employment Practices Solutions, Inc., in Lakewood, Colorado. […]

Hot List: Wall Street Journal’s Bestselling Hardcover Business Books

The following is a list of the bestselling hardcover business books as ranked by the Wall Street Journal with data from Nielsen BookScan on May 3. 1.The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine by Michael Lewis. The sequel to #1 best-selling Liar’s Poker examines the issue of who understood the risk inherent in the assumption […]

Why Do Employers Fail to Investigate? Number One Reason

Why do employers fail to investigate? asks Denise Kay, Esq. “The number one reason is that they don’t know what to do. Employers are especially fearful when agencies are involved.” Typical reasons that managers fail to even start an investigation, says Kay, are: They think it’s cut and dried, so there’s no need for an […]