Category: HR Hero Line

HR best practices, employment law tips, news and analysis, Q&As, and lessons learned from the courtroom.

OSHA and the NLRB gang up on employers

by Jeffrey A. Gruen The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) will now refer all untimely retaliation claims to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to determine whether an employer engaged in an unfair labor practice (ULP) under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA).   Background On March 6, 2014, David Michaels, OSHA’s assistant secretary of […]

Supreme Court roundup: the fall of government regulation

by Mark I. Schickman In June, the U.S. Supreme Court finished one of its most interesting terms in recent memory when it comes to employment law. While it’s difficult to find a consistent pattern in the multiple waves of rulings that were issued, one theme emerges: a limitation on governmental authority in areas that have […]

Get involved or steer clear? What’s HR to do when complaints roll in?

Ahh, the human resources department. The place where compassionate, friendly people solve problems in the workplace. A place filled with intelligent professionals uniquely qualified to turn conflict into comfort. Or maybe that’s not what the HR department should be at all. Maybe HR should empower others to handle certain workplace issues on their own rather […]

ERISA = Every Ridiculous Idea Since Adam

by Brandon Long It’s rumored that President Ronald Reagan once referred to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) as “Every Ridiculous Idea Since Adam.” ERISA serves important purposes in our society, but it also presents tremendous challenges and potential liabilities for good-intentioned employers that merely want to provide nice benefits to their […]

No silver bullet, but HR seen as key to solving talent shortage

More and more employers are suffering from a shortage of talent at the same time jobseekers are struggling to find work. That seemingly implausible situation has become the reality in many fields as the world of work deals with a still-struggling economy and epic change brought on by rapid technological advances.  A study from workforce […]

‘Surprise, surprise, surprise’: EEOC third-party subpoenas

by Joe English and Ariel Dubrow The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has the ability to subpoena a broad array of documents and records from third parties. Responding to such a subpoena can impose a costly burden on third parties.   EEOC’s broad subpoena powers An employer’s dealings with the EEOC typically stem from an administrative […]

Despite flaws, survey finds employers sticking to performance evaluations

If it’s not review season at your organization, you probably aren’t thinking about performance evaluations. Often review time comes around just once a year, and it’s not top of mind any other time—possibly because so many people dread the process.  For human resources professionals, that process can be even more stressful than it is for […]

FMLA notice requirements: Are you prepared?

by Jason R. Mau Since 1993, the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) has provided eligible employees with job security for unpaid leave related to certain family and medical issues, including serious health conditions and the care of a newborn baby, a newly placed foster child, or an adopted child. The serious health condition protections […]

Determining whether variable-hour employees are entitled to offer of health insurance

by Gesina (Ena) M. Seiler Beginning January 1, 2015, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) will require large employers (with 100 or more full-time and full-time equivalent, or FTE, employees–in 2016 it drops to 50 or more employees) to offer minimum essential health insurance coverage to at least 70 percent (increasing to 95 percent in 2016 […]

How painful can it get? Penalties for immigration noncompliance

by Christine D. Mehfoud Compliance-minded companies always want to know, “What’s the risk of noncompliance?” Or, put another way, “How much will it hurt if we don’t get it right?” For companies still wondering whether spending a little now to implement a solid immigration compliance program is a sound investment, some of the recent immigration-related […]