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U.S. District Court Upholds E-Verify System

This week, a Maryland U.S. District Court ruled in favor of the U.S. government in a lawsuit challenging the legality of the E-Verify system (Chamber of Commerce of the United States v. Napolitano). This means that beginning September 8, 2009, federal contractors and subcontractors will be required to use the E-Verify system to ensure their […]

Did the Recession Make Your Job Descriptions “Lawyer Bait”?

By BLR Founder and CEO Bob Brady During the recent recession, many employees saw their jobs change and grow. There may be fewer bodies, but the work still has to get done. In a lot of cases this, means that job descriptions are out of date and inaccurate. They may be fodder for significant lawsuits […]

Misclassified? Me? Where’s My Back Pay?

If you reclassify employees after a self-audit, you’ll likely face some tough questions, especially about back pay. Attorneys Allen Kato and Saundra Riley recently offered tips on how to respond. But first, here is Kato’s third option for dealing with reclassification (see yesterday’s issue of the Advisor for the first two). (The attorneys are associated […]

Exemption Audits: Should You Involve Employees?

If you are doing more with less (and who isn’t?), employees are putting in extra hours, and exempt workers are likely to question whether they’re really exempt from overtime. It’s probably wise to do a self-audit, but is it wise to include employees in the process? If you do include employees in the exemption audit, […]

H1N1 Vaccinations: May Not Be Available to Employees Until Spring 2010

H1N1 (“Swine”) flu vaccination trials are underway in the United States, and so far, it appears that there are no major side effects, according to the Centers for Disease Control. That’s the good news. The bad news for employers is that the vaccinations likely won’t be available for distribution to most adults through employee health […]

Employers Win Pension Plan Rights at Supreme Court of Canada

by Bill Duvall At the best of times, employer-sponsored pension plans bring with them thorny administrative and legal problems. These issues multiply in an economic environment in which many such pension plans face funding problems while employers seek to reduce their costs. Many employers have attempted pension plan amendments to reduce funding pressures. One such […]

Welch: ‘Work/Life Balance Is a Terrible Term’

“Work/Life Balance is a terrible term,” says Jack Welch. The term should be “work/life choices.” Different choices are not bad choices, but we need to recognize that there are choices and that the choices have consequences. Welch, former head of GE and a staunch supporter of HR, made his remarks at the recent Society for […]

Hot List: New York Times Bestselling Paperback Business Books

The following is a list of the bestselling paperback business books as ranked by the New York Times on August 24. 1. The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference by Malcolm Gladwell. How and why certain products and ideas become fads. 2. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen […]

Jack Welch: ‘HR, Get Out of the Picnic Business’

"How many out there (of perhaps 6,000 HR managers in the audience) are perceived by your organizations as equal in importance to the CFO?" Jack Welch asked.  About 10 percent believed they were. “That’s not enough,” he said. Welch, former head of GE and a great supporter of HR, offered his tips for HR managers […]

Favre Fumbles When It Comes to Leadership

I’m going to admit it upfront — I’m a huge Green Bay Packers fan. I grew up in Wisconsin and followed the Pack since I was a boy. I was in diapers when they won the first two Super Bowls and then suffered through some pretty lean years in the ’70s and ’80s. But the […]