Month: November 2011

NLRB’s Decision to Hold Vote on Quicker Elections Drawing Fire

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has decided to hold a vote on November 30 on portions of a controversial proposal that would speed up union elections. That decision is sparking outrage among foes of the measure. “This announcement confirms what we’ve suspected all along: the Obama NLRB is determined to impose a flawed rule […]

Turbo-Charge Your Sales Incentive Program

The three turbocharged techniques Coletti and Fiss suggest are: Fast Start Bonuses, OA incentives, and SPIFFs. Colletti is Managing partner of consulting firm Colletti-Fiss, LLC; Fiss is a partner. What Can You Expect from Turbo-Charging? Fast start bonuses are helpful to counter seasonality or cyclicality in buyer purchases, and to help realize more revenue sooner, […]

Expansive Interpretations of Occupational Health and Safety Laws Changing

By Rosalind Cooper Recently, courts across Canada seem to be expanding the application and coverage of occupational health and safety legislation, providing broad and liberal interpretations of legislation. But that may be changing. The decision in Ontario (Ministry of Labour) v. Sheehan’s Truck Centre Inc. is being welcomed by many as an indication that the […]

Litigation Trends: More Regulation, More Investigations, (A Little) Less Litigation

Regulatory actions and internal investigations are climbing, according to the 2011 Fulbright & Jaworski Litigation Trends Survey; however, businesses faced slightly less litigation in 2011 than in 2010. More than one-third of respondents report there has been an increase in external regulatory inquiries directed at their companies, and more than one-quarter of respondents expect the […]

If EEOC Suggests Mediation, Should You Say ‘Yes”?

Special from the Advanced Employment Issues Symposium, Las Vegas. If the EEOC suggests that you mediate with your complaining employee, you should accept, says attorney Mark Schickman. He and his clients have had good experiences with it, he adds. Schickman is a partner at Freeland Cooper & Foreman LLP in San Francisco. His remarks came […]

HR’s Worst—and Potentially Most Expensive—Mistake

Special from the Advanced Employment Issues Symposium, Las Vegas Attorney experts from the Employers Counsel Network delivered hard-hitting answers to HRDA’s question about the most expensive mistake HR managers make. The remarks came at BLR’s Advanced Employment Issues Symposium, held November 17-18 in Las Vegas. Refused Accommodation Requests The number one mistake is untrained supervisors […]

The Top 5 Reasons Employers Should Offer an FSA

Flexible spending accounts (FSAs) are a common feature of employee benefit plans. But why would an employer offer an FSA plan to its employees? Well, it’s extra money in your workers’ pockets that you and your employees probably don’t want to leave lying on the IRS’ table. Karen Kirkpatrick, senior compliance adviser for Infinisource, explained […]

Nifty HHS Site Enables Small Employers to Shop for Health Insurance

Are you shopping around for health insurance for your small company? The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) just unveiled a computerized search engine for health insurance policies, so you can search plans in much the same way the Medicare Part D program enables elderly folks to search prescription drug plans (or the way many […]

All’s Fair in Love and War

Litigation Value: Dunder Mifflin seems to have escaped the week without major liability. But that doesn’t mean that everyone behaved. Another week, and Andy is still looking for ways to motivate and inspire his team. You’ve got to hand it to him: his analogy of business as war is, at least, more logical than most […]