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Office Newpeats

I’m excited for this Thursday’s “newpeat.”  NBC will show two previously aired episodes (“Traveling Salesman” and “Oscar’s Return“) combined with new, never-before-seen moments.  One can only assume these never aired moments will include the antics we have come to expect from the Dunder Mifflin gang!  Stay tuned for my analysis on Friday.

The Merger

LITIGATION VALUE: Two weeks pay. Michael’s theory that a merger is like a marriage is an interesting one. He just seems to have forgotten that more than half of all marriages end in divorce. This week’s “divorce” was with Anthony Gardner, the employee Michael drove away with his crazy antics. Indeed, if it wasn’t bad […]

Let Us Survey Your Employees’ Attitudes – Free

By BLR Founder and CEO Bob BradyBLR’s founder introduces the National Employee Attitude Survey and invites you to find out more about your own workers’ attitudes, and how they benchmark to others, at no cost to you. In November, I wrote in this space about the employee attitude survey we’ve used at BLR for more […]

Sick Leave: SF Approves Transition Period for Paid Sick Leave

We reported last week that the San Francisco Board of Supervisors was considering an ordinance that would give employers an additional transition period before San Francisco’s controversial paid sick leave law, Chapter 12W, takes full effect. The paid sick leave law was approved by voters and took effect on Feb. 5, 2007.

Attorneys Offer Tips to Avoid Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) Lawsuits

Leading attorneys say you can stay dry in a rising tide of FLSA lawsuits by auditing your exempt/nonexempt classifications and maintaining a strict policy against improper deductions from pay. If you’d like your company to join the ranks of Wal-Mart, Starbucks, Radio Shack, and IBM, that’s easy to do. No, not in making stratospheric levels […]

Wage and Hour: Labor Commissioner Proposes Rules for Employee Expense Reimbursement

The California Labor Code requires employers to repay employees for all necessary expenditures employees incur in performing their jobs. However, the law doesn’t provide guidance as to what precisely must be reimbursed and at what rates, or whether paying an increased salary or commission satisfies the reimbursement requirement. Now, the labor commissioner has issued proposed […]

Orient Your Supervisors Toward Better New Employee Orientation

“Orientation has a direct impact on future productivity, performance, and job satisfaction. And you (the supervisor) play a key role in the success of the orientation process.” These words are from BLR’s training program, Audio Click’ n Train: New Employee Orientation: A How-To for Supervisors. Both formal studies and common sense prove that they’re true. […]

New Employee Orientation: How to Do It Right

Future job performance and retention start with the very first day on the job, say two HR experts. Here’s how to make that day, and what follows, worthwhile. Remember your first day on the job? A bit terrifying, wasn’t it? Even if you came from a similar position, there were new people to meet, new […]

Some further thoughts from “Branch Closing”

There is a right way to announce a reduction in force to employees. Going around the office muttering phrases such as “do your work while you still can” or “it doesn’t matter, we’ll be gone in a few weeks anyway” under your breath isn’t it. In the real world, a company planning a RIF should […]