Month: September 2017

Diversity

Employers look to ‘culture of inclusiveness’ in era of expanding LGBT rights

Inclusiveness, civility, respectful treatment: Those are all concepts getting a lot of attention as employers struggle to cope with what seems like an increasingly divisive culture often threatening to bleed over into the workplace.  A changing legal landscape also must be considered as employers strive for productive and nondiscriminatory working environments. For example, a landmark […]

With HR’s help, employee network groups can improve retention

From the employer’s perspective, employee network groups can boost engagement and retention—or they can create divisiveness. To ensure the former, employers need to be involved from the start. By adopting a policy and welcoming network groups, businesses can encourage members to have positive effects in the workplace, according to Ray Friedman, a professor of management […]

bias

When words used in a disciplinary report suggest implicit bias

by Barbara J. Koenig Implicit bias is an unconscious preference for or an aversion to a person or a group of people. In other words, we may have an attitude toward others or stereotype them without conscious knowledge of what we’re doing. If we act in accordance with our implicit bias, we may be discriminating […]

Top 10 employer mistakes in accommodating disabled employees

by Matthew A. Goodin Even experienced HR professionals have a difficult time with requests for reasonable accommodation from disabled employees. This process is even trickier if the employee needs a leave of absence as an accommodation because of the intersection of different laws that govern leaves of absence. Below are some of the most common […]

Stage is set for SCOTUS to rule on Title VII and sexual orientation

by Ryan B. Frazier Since the civil rights movement of the 1960s, state and federal laws have been enacted to prohibit employment discrimination against individuals on the basis of their race, ethnicity, age, disability, religion, and gender. Until recently, virtually none of those antidiscrimination laws covered employment discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity. […]

small package

Good (Nontaxable) Things Come in Small Packages: The De Minimis Fringe Benefit Rule

Do you want to recognize an employee’s 20 years of service by giving a gift? Perhaps you want to refund local transportation costs or open a cafeteria so your employees can eat on-site. Maybe you just want to know how to handle those annual holiday turkeys you give to employees. All of these situations are […]

social media

How Do You Use Social Media Tools to Effectively Support Learning?

Is your employee training program missing the mark? Are you struggling to find new tools to keep employees engaged? Have you tried using social media? If not, you may want to give it a shot. “Learning has always been social, and it’s how we learn to do most things we do,” says Jane Bozarth, an […]

workers' comp

Some New Mexico Workers’ Benefits Will Take a Hit Under WCA Amendments

During the 2015 legislative session, and later in the 2017 regular legislative session, lawmakers started redrafting the sections of the New Mexico Workers’ Compensation Act (WCA) that seemed unfair and unworkable to many employers. The revisions became law on June 16, 2017. Now, when a worker is fired for cause unrelated to a workplace injury, the worker is no longer eligible for workers’ comp benefits beyond the basic impairment rating benefit.

independent contractor

Was Racetrack Chaplain an Independent Contractor or an Employee?

Recently, the Kentucky Court of Appeals had to decide whether or not a chaplain working for Keeneland Association, Inc., was an independent contractor or an employee. Based on the courts findings, the chaplain could then proceed with a disability discrimination claim against the racecourse.