Month: June 2014

Hiring new and young staff this summer? Think safety first!

By Deanah Shelly A few summers ago, Ontario employers were surprised by a monthlong young worker safety inspection blitz. During the blitz, Ontario Ministry of Labour inspectors visited 2,024 workplaces across Ontario and issued 5,862 orders. Of those, 105 were stop-work orders, forcing workplaces to stop production until they complied with the listed requirements. On […]

Laws That ‘Ban the Box’ on Job Applications Keep Trending

“Ban the box.” It’s not just a catchy phrase, but represents a law that restricts employers from asking a job applicant about his or her criminal history during the initial employment application. The ban-the-box law — a state, county and city mandate that requires employers to remove the criminal record disclosure box from job applications […]

Cancers, ESRD Top List of Large Payouts, S-L Insurer Reports

The medical cases that are bad news to self-funded plans are also bad news to stop-loss insurers. So the latest report by stop-loss insurer Sun Life Financial on the top 10 catastrophic health conditions it sees is instructive for self-funded plans. Two categories of cancer, end-stage renal disease and two categories complications related to newborns […]

Texas, California Participants Top 401(k) Plan Loan Use

A study by Fidelity Investments of 13 million 401(k) investors across U.S. metropolitan regions pinpointed the cities where plan loans are most heavily used. The analysis found the greatest percentage of participants with outstanding plan loans, at 33 percent, in the McAllen, Texas, area. The second-largest proportions of borrowers were in the Riverside and Bakersfield, […]

Are You a Social Businessperson?

Do you consider yourself a social businessperson? What exactly is a social businessperson? Right now we are looking specifically at how professional you portray yourself on different social media platforms. How professional do you think you come across on LinkedIn and Twitter? Take a look at your LinkedIn and Twitter pages right now…do you come […]

Puerto Rico may implement first far-reaching antibullying law

by Tammy Binford Puerto Rico employers may soon be required to take steps to prevent workplace bullying. The territory’s legislature passed Senate Bill 501, an antibullying measure, on June 3. If the bill is signed by Governor Alejandro Garcia Padilla, Puerto Rico will become the first U.S. jurisdiction to pass a comprehensive law against workplace […]

Best practices: 2014 Green Cross for Safety Award

Owens Corning is the 2014 recipient of the National Safety Council’s (NSC) Green Cross for Safety medal. The prestigious Green Cross award is presented annually to an organization with outstanding safety performance and a commitment to improving the quality of life in the communities where employees work and live. Over the past 12 years, Owens […]

Quickie election rules are coming—are your managers and supervisors ready?

by Robert M. Vercruysse In February 2014, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) once again announced that it was going to change the rules for Board-conducted elections. This time, there is a properly appointed five-member NLRB. The Board’s previous attempt to change the election rules failed because the courts held that it didn’t have a […]