Category: HR Management & Compliance

There are dozens of details to take care of in the day-to-day operation of your department and your company. We give you case studies, news updates, best practices and training tips that keep your organization fully in compliance with ever-changing employment law, and you fully aware of emerging HR trends.

Human Resources: Should We Outsource HR Activities?

Our management has asked me to explore the possibility of outsourcing substantial parts of our HR function. (They’re not singling us out—other functions are doing the analysis, too). How can we tell what to outsource, and to whom?   — Tammy, HR director in Cupertino

Should We Train Managers As We Do Shamu the Whale?

BLR founder Bob Brady’s look at manager training may be tongue-in-cheek, but there’s a really important principle behind it. There was a wonderful article by author Amy Sutherland in The New York Times recently. She wrote about how animal training technique helped her train her husband. The article could help us train managers and supervisors, […]

The HR Policy-Writing Shortcut

It’s a lot easier to have the human resources policies and procedures you need when you don’t actually have to write them. Here’s the way around having to do it. A recent Daily Advisor article bemoaned the fact that so many companies create human resources policies and procedures manuals and then never use them. “The […]

Workers’ Comp: Another Rate Cut on the Way

California Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi has announced he will likely recommend a further workers’ compensation insurance pure premium rate cut of at least 6.3 percent—which would bring the cumulative rate decreases to 58 percent since workers’ comp reform measures were implemented back in 2003.

Your Human Resources Policies and Procedures Manual: The Office Dust Collector?

Open your Human Resources Policies and Procedures Manual for a fresh look and you may find you’ve opened up your whole organization. If you’re like most companies, chances are good your company has a human resources policies and procedures manual. Unfortunately, they’re equally good that that once-vital human resources policies and procedures manual hasn’t been […]

Super HR Websites: ‘Everything in HR at the Click of a Mouse!’

What if there was a place where all the HR information you need was instantly available? Thanks to the power of the Internet, there is. The recent Daily Advisor article on how the Internet is changing salary negotiations showed just how powerful this amazing technology has become in HR. Gone is the day when companies […]

Exempt Employees: Can We Make Exempts Punch a Clock?

We’re a little unsure about what we can require of our exempt employees without risking their exemptions. Can we make them punch a time clock or track their hours? We tried the time clock approach, but they resented it. They said we’re treating them like hourly workers. Also, can we make them work a minimum […]