Practical HR Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
As a result of an upcoming merger, we are going to have a lot of situations in which there is a disparity in salaries. We have a plan for addressing that over a period of three years, but in the meantime, I would like to institute a policy that prohibits employees from discussing their salaries […]
To fill those entry-level jobs, offer an atmosphere of respect and opportunity, and get to know the communities from which you want to hire. It’s natural that an organization be nervous about the loss of a key executive. But what really terrifies many these days is having their entry-level people leave. In today’s service economy, […]
Our company’s hiring managers always want me to recruit from certain competitor companies. I’d like to know what legal and ethical limits there are on my right to recruit employees from other companies. Can I cold call someone in a competing firm and ask if they would be interested in working for my firm? What […]
A new California Supreme Court ruling sends a warning that if you lure away someone else’s employees by illegal or unfair methods—even at-will employees who are free to leave their jobs anyway—you could get hauled into court.
A lawsuit charging Wal-Mart with discrimination against 1.6 million female employees has been certified as a class action by a federal district court judge in San Francisco. A key allegation in the litigation—being called the largest civil rights action in United States history—is that Wal-Mart violated state and federal equal-pay laws by paying female employees […]
A new study by Mellon Financial Corp. reveals that 81 percent of employers offer employee assistance programs, up from 70 percent in 1996, and 54 percent provide family sick days, up from 42 percent. Although only 6 percent of employers offered domestic partner benefits seven years ago, 35 percent of employers do now. The study […]
As online recruiting has rapidly accelerated in the past decade, employers have grappled with whether they have to consider every single resume that comes in as an application, even if it wasn’t submitted for a specific job opening. Now the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has released proposed new recordkeeping guidance clarifying who is […]
Because of increasing diversity in the workforce—and a spike in discrimination complaints since the events of Sept. 11, 2001—taking steps to avoid national-origin bias is more critical than ever. Now, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has released updated guidelines to help employers understand the prohibitions against national-origin discrimination and to suggest best practices for […]
Karen Yarborough, a recruiting manager for Pleasanton-based PeopleSoft, complained to her supervisors that the company’s affirmative action hiring data was false. Then, just two days before an on-site audit of the software maker’s employment data by the Office of Federal Contracts Compliance Programs, Yarborough was fired. Now an Alameda County jury’s multimillion-dollar verdict for Yarborough […]
A new survey of 400 mid- to large-sized employers by human resource consulting firm William M. Mercer and child care consultant Bright Horizons Family Solutions found that many employers are offering on-site child care as a recruiting and employee retention tool. Twelve percent of respondents had an on-site facility, 8% used a nearby center and […]