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What's an employer to do when there is ample documentation to terminate an employee, but the employee has recently engaged in a protected activity? For example, what if the employee files a workers' compensation claim or takes FMLA leave in close proximity to performance issues? This presents a real timing dilemma for employers: Doesn't it look retaliatory to terminate the employee immediately after the protected activity?
USERRA Case Study 1: John Falsifies Paperwork The facts: John is a supervisory employee at a delivery company and is a longtime reservist and combat veteran. Here’s the scenario: John is told by a coworker that the company doesn’t like supervisors to serve in the reserves. His boss sends an internal e-mail that says, “John […]
Yes, pay for performance applies to all levels of jobs, says consultant Katie M. Busch, but there are some caveats when you offer incentive programs to nonexempts. Variable pay is a powerful communicator of values and directions and changing business needs, says Busch. However, with nonexempt employees, it is particularly important that: The amount of […]
The information in today’s issue is adapted from BLR’s 7-Minute Safety Trainer session, “Basic Fire Prevention Steps.” The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) requires employers to have a fire prevention plan that covers workplace fire hazards and contains procedures and responsibilities for preventing fires. In this safety training session, we’ll learn what components cause […]
Supervisor training is very important when it comes to ensuring that your company stays legally compliant. Getting supervisors on the same page is critical, and it’s just as important for supervisors to know when to step back and hand things over to HR. HR and the supervisors need to work together. Supervisor Roles are of […]
BOSTON, October 2, 2013 – Fidelity Investments®, a leading provider of workplace retirement plans in tax-exempt markets, today announced that Assets Under Administration (AUA) have doubled since the start of the financial crisis five years ago. Through the first half of 2013, Fidelity’s AUA has reached $204 billion, a 102 percent increase from 2008(i). Additionally, […]
Effland, a shareholder at the Indianapolis office of Ogletree Deakins PC, says that USERRA (Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act) offers two essential rights, the right to take leave, and the right to return. The basics of the law are: Coverage: Virtually all employers, regardless of the number of employees. Eligibility: Virtually all employees […]
by John T. Neighbours In 2000, John Sweeney, then-president of the AFL-CIO, declared that unions were going to “organize, organize, organize.” A few years later, a group of unions led by the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and its president, Andy Stern, split off from the AFL-CIO to form an organization called “Change to Win,” […]
Cubicle farms with no doors have employees facing constant interruptions and employers bemoaning lost productivity. This is especially true in the dangerous “afternoon slump” period when workers are looking for some stimulation from caffeine, sugary snacks, and office gossip. Various studies show that even a 2-minute interruption can result in 20 minutes of lost productivity […]
Joseph Neubauer had not missed a Yankees home game in 38 years. He would book his vacation days and days off to correspond to the Yankees’ home schedule. But a rainstorm ended his streak—and his job! CBS NewYork/WFAN reports that the city employee had, as usual, taken September 18, 2013, off to go to the […]