When we think of efforts to promote worker safety, we think of investigations by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and resulting fines. The settlement of a lawsuit in Ohio filed against Cintas Corp. calls attention to a possible new way of taking action about safety issues in the workplace.

(more…)

Execupundit provides this week’s tip with a conversation about substance vs. perception.

As a human resources professional, how patient are you when you interview someone for a job? Patience is ordinarily a good quality, but some interviews can test one’s patience.

(more…)

“Feel like throwing in the towel, don’t be a fool.” Then Van Halen belts out “get up and make it work, get up and make it work, get up and make it work.” Perhaps the alarm we should wake to each morning?

(more…)

As noted in last year’s post on Thanksgiving, it was not recognized as an official day of thanksgiving and remembrance until Abraham Lincoln proclaimed it so in 1863. The need for our country to set aside a time for thanksgiving had, however, been recognized in two proclamations issued by George Washington, one in 1789 and the other in 1795.

(more…)

Employees are increasingly concerned about losing their privacy because of the Internet. All the while, they’re losing more of it every day. A Canadian employee has allegedly lost her insurance benefits because of pictures she posted on Facebook. (Click here and here.)

(more…)

Thanksgiving being upon us, many blogs have posts on the subject, the day, the meaning, etc. Some of the blogs I regularly check out have Thanksgiving posts that you should check out.

(more…)

Mark Twain once again provides us a quote for the week. As is true with most Twain quotes, this one contains both humor and truth:

(more…)

Many employers have their own security departments. The Wall Street Journal reports that whether an employer has a security department or not, it’s time for all employees to take responsibility for providing security for the employer and each other. Stickups and burglaries are increasing at all kinds of businesses.

(more…)

When I first started this blog, I did a regular weekly post called “Corporate BS.” I was reminded of these posts by a post done by Eclecticity, an erudite opponent and satirist of Corporate BS.

I’ve previously done my share of posts on employment lessons to be learned from the Ft. Hood tragedy. One of the posts specifically dealt with performance review lessons. With the ongoing scrutiny of the Ft. Hood shootings, the recriminations against the Army for not firing Major Nidal Hasan long before Ft. Hood are becoming other-worldly.

(more…)

On May 21, 2008, President Bush signed the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act. Title I of GINA, preventing insurance companies from discriminating on the basis of genetic information in group health plans, became effective on May 21, 2009. Title II of GINA, prohibiting employers with 15 or more employees from making any employment decision based on the genetic information of an employee or an employee’s family member, became effective over the weekend (November 21 to be exact). For a previous post on GINA, click here.

(more…)

Not long ago, labor and employment lawyers representing employers felt comfortable advising clients that the law was weighted in an employer’s favor when it comes to the subject of monitoring an employee’s email at work. An employer should have a written policy advising employees that monitoring will occur, thus eliminating employees’ expectation of privacy. The Wall Street Journal says it’s not quite that simple any more.

(more…)

How do you know when it’s time to quit? Sometimes, it’s hard to know. Listen to Lynyrd Skynyrd sing again and again, “Just know that my work is done,” and see if it helps you decide.

(more…)

According to the New York Times, immigration reform is still alive and well. To blunt doubt that the Obama administration is still committed to taking on this divisive issue in early 2010, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano has announced that a new plan is in the works.

(more…)