Month: April 2014

My Salaried Employee Has No PTO But Needs Time Off—What Can I Do?

Employers often find themselves in a conundrum, however, over how to handle miscellaneous time off that was never even requested as PTO. For example, what happens when the work hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., but an employee has a personal appointment that requires him or her to arrive late? Usually this is not […]

Clear offer of employment needed to argue mitigation

By Katherine Pollock Want to change a Canadian employee’s terms or conditions of employment? It’s not as easy as it once was. Depending on the nature of the change, it may amount to constructive dismissal. If it does amount to constructive dismissal, simply providing notice of the change may not be sufficient—as the Court of […]

Regression Analysis: a Case Study

A nonprofit home healthcare agency has asked “a consultant” whether its CEO is fairly paid relative to the marketplace for similar agencies. The Agency has supplied a database to the consultant, who also has his own survey database of CEO pay. This case will demonstrate how regression data can be used to answer this question. […]

Train Employees on the Effective Use of PPE

Here’s what the court said: In analyzing the facts of this case, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania had to determine whether the company was negligent and, if so, whether negligence caused Wyatt’s injury. In addition, the court had to decide whether Wyatt knew before the accident that he was required […]

Do You Adequately Train Workers on Safety Procedures?

A worker, who was not wearing work gloves when he was injured, claimed that his employer did not instruct him that wearing the leather gloves was a mandatory safety precaution. What Happened “Wyatt” started working for SMS Rail Lines in February 2006 as a boom truck operator and railroad track laborer. As required, he passed […]

Hitting the Team Member Trifecta—Not Easy, But Necessary

In a recent conversation with an organizational psychologist, I was asked, “What are the top three things you look for in the members of your management team?” That’s a big and important question.   Yet I was able to answer it quickly and easily: “Trustworthiness, compatibility, and talent.” The next sentence I uttered might surprise […]

Alternatives to H-1B status and the H-1B cap

by Leigh Cole H-1B nonimmigrant status allows U.S. employers to hire international workers in “specialty occupations” that require at least a bachelor’s degree or equivalent vocational preparation. Most H-1B applications are subject to an annual limit on H-1B approvals known as the H-1B cap.   Some employers are exempt from the cap, but most H-1B applications […]

Regression Analysis: Setting Pay Levels with Precision

What Is Regression Analysis? Regression analysis is a statistical technique that predicts the level of one variable (the “dependent” variable) based on the level of another variable (the “independent” variable). In a compensation setting, for example, that might be the relationship of executive pay to company size or company revenue. David Wudyka, SPHR, MBA, BSIE, […]

Alignment, Talent, Metrics, Branding—Simple to Say, Hard to Do

In yesterday’s Advisor, we covered policy and basic issues HR managers will face for the rest of the year; today, strategic issues, plus an introduction to a free Sue Meisinger webcast on challenges for HR in 2014. Strategic goals sound so simple (align work with company strategy, develop an employment brand, develop good metrics) but […]