HR Blogs

Whether you're preparing to move into your dream-home, raising a house full of kids - or both, you know each requires a lot of hard work, planning, and continuous upkeep - unless your want those dreams to turn into nightmares!  We've all heard that worn-out old adage, "Nothing worthwhile comes easily; work, continuous work and hard work, is the only way to accomplish results that last."  Well, it may be old and corny, but it's just as true as can be - if you want things to turn out well, you have to constantly work hard and be vigilant to ensure everything remains on track.

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The new hire onboarding process is critical in setting the stage for exceptional employee performance.  While often confused with new hire orientation, onboarding is a highly strategic process that must be carefully crafted to ensure your new employees assimilate into your organization's culture and are able to quickly reach their full potential. 

This article explores six critical steps for success during the employee onboarding process.

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Injuries occur in the workplace.  Your behavior and reaction to these injuries will drive a successful rehab or it won't.

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On July 20, 2009, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) published Field Assistance Bulletin No. 2009-02 (FAB 2009-02), which provides guidance and transition relief for sponsors of 403(b) plans that will be required to file a more detailed Form 5500 annual report beginning with the 2009 plan year.  While the guidance does not delay the annual reporting requirements, it does allow for reasonable good faith compliance and other transition relief that should assist plan sponsors in meeting their reporting obligations.

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Every minute of teamwork in the 21st century requires adaptation to each other, to changing conditions, and sometimes to changing goals. The traditional definition of a team, a group of people working together toward a common goal, sounds logical, is clear - and doesn't work. Most people participate from their own perspective and the organization gets stuck performing based on how they are organized. Sometimes leaders don't even consider business opportunities because of the current organizational structure.

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If you always do what you always did, you always get what you always got."  It's up to you to do something about your negative, energy-draining circumstances.  Go for it - get happy!

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Change can be difficult. I work in a healthcare setting, so clinical change in a patient is a key focus for our clinical staff, but the "change" I am referring to herein concerns how one can deal with the challenges of organizational change in today's environment. Many of us have experienced changes in our organizations, in the marketplace, or in the environs in which we operate. Paradoxically change seems to be the new status quo.

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As an employer, you cannot afford not to understand social networking, texting, instant messaging, and any other new technology that is used by your employees. Let's be honest, phones are not just phones anymore. The days of the rotary phone and party line have come and gone.

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In the recent case of Morgan v. Family Dollar Stores, Inc., the 11^th Circuit affirmed a jury award of over $35 million dollars in unpaid overtime wages for more than one thousand store managers who had been misclassified as exempt.  Like Dollar Stores, employers often operate under the mistaken belief that employees who are paid salaries and given managerial or executive titles are automatically exempt from the overtime.  These misconceptions can have severe consequences if it is later determined that the employees were misclassified as exempt, but are in fact, entitled to overtime pay.  

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IRS gives significantly underfunded multiemployer defined plans making elections described in sections 204 and 205 of the Worker, Retiree, and Employer Recovery Act of 2008, P.L. 110-458 (WRERA) more time.

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Employers beware:  pending legislation will make it possible for unions to organize a workplace without ever having a union election and will allow arbitrators to set the terms and conditions of labor contracts if workers and management cannot agree. The Employee Free Choice Act, co-sponsored by  President-Elect Obama. will likely be passed in some form in the near future.  This sweeping legislation would fundamentally alter how unions are organized in the American workplace and how union contracts are negotiated.  Employers need to prepare now for these changes.

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Tips on achieving your financial dreams

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Is your workforce unhappy with the union?  Are they grumbling that they wish they had never voted for it?  Before you sign that new collective bargaining agreement, learn whether there is a way to rid your company of the employees' "exclusive bargaining representative."

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In modern society, the issue of treatment of individuals with caregiving responsibilities in the workplace is becoming more and more important.  More employees have some form of caregiving duties than ever before - whether one is talking about single parents, two-parents households where both adults work, or the ever increasing situation where an employee is responsible for the care of elderly or disabled parents or other relatives.  This issue has raised enough concern that the EEOC recently issued a guidance document relating to potential disparate treatment of caregivers in the workplace.  Additionally, a newly-issued case from the 1st Circuit sheds light both on the EEOC's guidance and the issue generally.  In Chadwick v. Wellpoint, Inc., No. 07-70 (D. Me. 5/2/08), the court held that, while there is no such thing as "caregiver discrimination" under federal law, treating employees differently because of traditional sexual stereotypes does constitute actionable sex discrimination under federal law.

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Leaders today can unintentionally be drawn into conversation regarding younger workers and tight labor conditions, which simply does not solve the challenges present. This piece presents several questions which are helpful in potentially reorienting the conversation.

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HR/OD professionals are often asked to help change a corporate culture. The purpose of this blog is to provide some information about culture from the existing literature as well as provide best practices for diagnosing, mapping, and planning corporate culture change.  With the right tools, HR/OD can truly be a change agent and bring about radical change in the cultures of their organizations.

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In addition to the recent military family leave changes to FMLA, employers will be interested in learning about the Department of Labor's decision to update the fifteen-year old regulations in an effort to improve communications among workers, employers, and health care providers.

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Sexual harassment training is no longer a luxury utilized only by those employers who wish to be, or appear, proactive in an effort to promote a positive workplace. Since the Supreme Court's landmark decisions in the 1998 Faragher and Ellerth sexual harassment cases, subsequent court decisions and EEOC Guidelines have demonstrated that sexual harassment training is essential and is not to be viewed as something to be dismissed or taken lightly. Read More

On January 28, 2008, President Bush signed the National Defense Authorization Act. While this law was primarily intended to address concerns over litigation surrounding the Gulf War, one section of the bill included provisions extending Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) protection to close family relatives of uniformed service members. Read More