Bill Would Ban Porn at Work
Archive
March 2015
Mental Illness in the Workplace: Reminders Related to the Germanwings Crash
Recruiters face a paradox. Currently, there is an amazing pool of talent available to be tapped, but the sheer numbers make it increasingly difficult to locate perfect candidates. This makes it more important than ever to develop a true recruiting strategy. The following tips can help you map out your strategy for recruiting the best candidates.
Do you wear a fitness tracker like a Fitbit or a Jawbone? Or maybe you are planning to jump on the Apple Watch fanboy train in a few weeks and take advantage of that device's ability to track your activity. Lot's of folks are keeping closer track of their workouts and activity today.
It seems that everyone wants a seat at the table these days, including college athletes. However, it’s not the boardroom table where they want a voice and a vote. It’s at the bargaining table.
Consumer-Directed Health Plans Save Money Over Time
USCIS Guidance May Help Reduce Denials of L-1B Visa Requests
Study: New Work World Requires HR Overhaul
Updated daily, the HR News home page is your one-stop shop for the latest news and featured articles. This page compiles top staff-written and external news of general interest to HR, plus major stories in the HR Disciplines.
EEOC Readies Wellness Incentives Rule; Congress Responds
Liability safeguards outlined by former EEOC vice chair at SHRM conference
By Stephen Miller, CEBS 3/27/2015
Have you heard about the new #SHRM certifications?
Our quick Q&A with Kennesaw State University HR program manager Jennifer Henderson will answer your questions about what these changes mean for the human resources industry.
We all know about Reading, Writing and Arithmetic from our childhoods – the 3 Rs.
In the HR and talent management world, there are another 3 Rs that are critical to the success of an HR organization – Recruitment, Retention and Relationships. As much focus that is placed on the first 2, it seems the relationship piece of the puzzle is often missing. And that’s a shame, because it is vital to the success of the organization, including the recruitment and retention pieces.
It's the people!
Updated daily, the HR News home page is your one-stop shop for the latest news and featured articles. This page compiles top staff-written and external news of general interest to HR, plus major stories in the HR Disciplines.
Dan Abrams: Two-Sidedness Overrated
By Allen Smith 3/25/2015
Whether it’s the opinion page or his own reporting, Dan Abrams, a legal analyst for ABC News and founder/publisher of news site Mediaite.com, is a man drawn toward opinions.
On March 25, @shrmnextchat chatted with Kevin W. Grossman (@KevinWGrossman) about "What I Wish I Would Have Known" before starting a career in HR.
In case you missed it, here are all the informative tweets -- and some great advice -- from the chat:
Updated daily, the HR News home page is your one-stop shop for the latest news and featured articles. This page compiles top staff-written and external news of general interest to HR, plus major stories in the HR Disciplines.
DOL and Employers Can Work Together, Wage and Hour Administrator Says
By Joanne Deschenaux 3/24/2015
I am excited to share with you the new Council for Global Immigration (CFGI) and Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) guide, “Moving Forward on Immigration: How the U.S. Employment-Based Immigration System Works – and How It Can Work Better,” which contains information on:
Updated daily, the HR News home page is your one-stop shop for the latest news and featured articles. This page compiles top staff-written and external news of general interest to HR, plus major stories in the HR Disciplines.
Minimize Potential Liability with Social Media
By Allen Smith 3/23/2015
Whether you’ve been in the human resources profession for five years or 35 years (back when it was known as the "personnel department"), all HR professionals can tell you what they wish they would have known before they started their careers.
They may talk about the evolution of the profession itself or about trends, laws and advances in technology that have appeared over the course of their careers.
The 2015 SHRM Employment Law and Legislative Conference is March 23-25 in Washington, D.C.
Check out the Storify below with all the best tweets from the conference:
I received this question over at my blog, HR Bartender. It’s one of those situations that might not come up regularly, but it raises a lot of questions about the best way to handle mistakes.
The company I work for is closing. Each employee is being given a severance package of 1 week for every year worked. I started June 2010. When I was told that I would receive 2.5 weeks of severance, I questioned it and was told my hire date was listed as July 2012.
Updated daily, the HR News home page is your one-stop shop for the latest news and featured articles. This page compiles top staff-written and external news of general interest to HR, plus major stories in the HR Disciplines.
ACA at 5th Anniversary: Neither Poison Nor Panacea
By Allen Smith 3/20/2015
Updated daily, the HR News home page is your one-stop shop for the latest news and featured articles. This page compiles top staff-written and external news of general interest to HR, plus major stories in the HR Disciplines.
Despite House Vote, Employers Should Prepare for Quicker Union Elections
By Allen Smith 3/19/2015
Whether they’re clocking in to work, trying to enter a secure room or driving a company car, many workers are finding that the procedures for these everyday workplace occurrences are changing. To continue reading this article, please click here.
On my speaking boondoggles around the country, what’s the biggest issue I hear from HR professionals involving transgender employees?
Yep, it’s the use of the bathroom.
Updated daily, the HR News home page is your one-stop shop for the latest news and featured articles. This page compiles top staff-written and external news of general interest to HR, plus major stories in the HR Disciplines.
ADA Interactive Process: It Sounds Easy, So Why Is It Hard?
By Allen Smith 3/18/2015
On March 18, @shrmnextchat chatted with Jason Averbook (@JasonAverbook) about 2015 HR Trends.
In case you missed it, here are all the informative tweets from the chat:
Updated daily, the HR News home page is your one-stop shop for the latest news and featured articles. This page compiles top staff-written and external news of general interest to HR, plus major stories in the HR Disciplines.
14 States, D.C. Seek to Stay Injunction of Obama’s Immigration Action
By Allen Smith 3/17/2015
Q: I read somewhere that the majority of identity theft originates from a source in the workplace. If this is true, what steps should my employer be taking to protect my personal information, and what can I do if they are being lax about it?
In this era of “World War Talent,” the connection between an organization’s leadership team and its human resources department has never been more important. The CEO and HR leaders must be closely linked, which for many organizations requires a shift from past practice. Gone are the days of HR as an administrative cost center. HR leaders are increasingly expected to own the business plan from the perspective of talent — serving as a chief advisor and confidant to the CEO and a business partner to the operating team for all matters talent, including technology.
Updated daily, the HR News home page is your one-stop shop for the latest news and featured articles. This page compiles top staff-written and external news of general interest to HR, plus major stories in the HR Disciplines.
It seems as though we have been atop the crest of a wave in workforce planning for quite some time now. Today, we question the inevitable....
SHRM’s Premier Legislative Conference and Advocacy Day are Around the Corner – Your Chance to Make a Big Difference to the World of HR
Updated daily, the HR News home page is your one-stop shop for the latest news and featured articles. This page compiles top staff-written and external news of general interest to HR, plus major stories in the HR Disciplines.
Health Groups Offer Guidance on E-Cigarettes in the Workplace
Recommendations for wellness programs and tobacco-cessation policies
By Stephen Miller, CEBS 3/16/2015
Los Angeles is home to the second-largest metropolitan economy in the United States, but did you know that it is also the birthplace of an array of pop culture standards? The electric guitar, the bathing suit and the skateboard were all developed here, along with several high-tech innovations like the Mars rover and the F-117, the first stealth fighter built for the United States military.
Did you know one out of six people has some type of disability? That makes one billion people with disabilities worldwide, according to the World Health Organization in 2013. With that in mind, has your company implemented ways to become more disability-friendly? There are many opportunities to make a work environment accessible for people with disabilities.
There are a number of significant employment-related bills before the California legislature, including one that would increase the state’s minimum wage beyond the already contemplated 2016 increase and one that would expand the California Family Rights Act to apply to employers with more than five employees.
To continue reading this article, please click here.
Updated daily, the HR News home page is your one-stop shop for the latest news and featured articles. This page compiles top staff-written and external news of general interest to HR, plus major stories in the HR Disciplines.
HR Urged to Protect Wellness Program Data
Specify what wellness providers can and cannot do with health information
By Steve Bates 3/12/2015
Updated daily, the HR News home page is your one-stop shop for the latest news and featured articles. This page compiles top staff-written and external news of general interest to HR, plus major stories in the HR Disciplines.
Stop the Madness? Or Accommodate It?
NCAA basketball tournament tests workplace boundaries on betting, game-watching
By Dana Wilkie 3/11/2015
Many people are trying to shake the winter doldrums in the hope that spring will renew them. This happens every year and is very predictable behavior. Instead of enjoying the season we’re in, we keep looking forward to a rebirth in the next season to come. Don’t get me wrong, I am enjoying the thaw that is finally upon us and am glad to see the snow start to dissipate.
On March 11, @shrmnextchat chatted with special guests Alex Alonso, vice president of SHRM Certification (
Updated daily, the HR News home page is your one-stop shop for the latest news and featured articles. This page compiles top staff-written and external news of general interest to HR, plus major stories in the HR Disciplines.
Quits Rate Continues to Rise, Signaling Worker Confidence
By Roy Maurer 3/11/2015
Take a step back and look at your life, your work, yourself. Do you see excess? Is there too much emphasis on one area of your life? Are you running a rat race that can’t be won? If I were a betting person, I wouldn’t hesitate placing a decent wager on these things. You see, all too often, in our personal lives, we consume to make us happy. The same goes in our professional worlds were we often buy into the idea that we “need” the newest technology, the new shiny toy.
Don’t Fall Victim
Over the past ten years, there has been increased emphasis on HR competencies as a means to increase the HR profession’s effectiveness.
The profession is changing and growing more rapidly than ever before. Organizations are now demanding greater creativity and productivity from their HR teams, and this will require HR professionals to possess specific competencies to support the desired results.
"Son, paint's the last thing you do when you're painting a house."
My father's words of many years ago as his naive son attempted to dive into a Victorian house reclamation that needed much more than paint. In many ways it was a parable for life- and my first real lesson in social media- a decade before social media even existed.
Updated daily, the HR News home page is your one-stop shop for the latest news and featured articles. This page compiles top staff-written and external news of general interest to HR, plus major stories in the HR Disciplines.
Employers’ Brief for Same-Sex Marriage Cites Benefits Burden
Tax ‘gross ups’ among the added costs of separate treatment for same-sex spouse benefits
By Stephen Miller, CEBS 3/10/2015

This is the second of this series - The Secret Sauce in Leading a Successful Search.
The California Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board on Feb. 20, 2015, adopted an amendment to the state Heat Illness Prevention regulation, changing the requirements for potable water, shade, cool-down periods, high-heat procedures, emergency preparedness, acclimatization, training, and heat illness prevention plans.
To continue reading this article, please click here.
Updated daily, the HR News home page is your one-stop shop for the latest news and featured articles. This page compiles top staff-written and external news of general interest to HR, plus major stories in the HR Disciplines.
Wages Stagnate Despite Thriving Job Market
By Joseph Coombs 3/6/2015
I, and others on Blogging4Jobs, have written about the future of work and adapting to the needs of future workers. I have also written about the contractor or Freelancer economy and how a large portion of the Millennial generation will be working in very flexible work arrangements. The company Uber has provided one example. Now a company called TaskRabbit is providing another.
Updated daily, the HR News home page is your one-stop shop for the latest news and featured articles. This page compiles top staff-written and external news of general interest to HR, plus major stories in the HR Disciplines.
Majority of Justices Seem To Have Minds Made Up in Health Care Case
By Allen Smith 3/4/2015
On March 4, @shrmnextchat chatted with SHRM HR Business Partner Lisa Orndorff (@rubrx) about the Value of Employee Recognition.
In case you missed all the great ideas, tips and advice offered during this chat, you can read all the tweets here and below:
We all know the importance of recognition and appreciation. In this context, some people say “you’re the best.”
Words matter and these words are troublesome for a few reasons. First and foremost: how is the recipient to respond?
If you say nothing, either you have ignored what was intended as a compliment, or your silence may be seen as “why are you telling me that which is axiomatic?”
If you say “thank you,” are you not effectively saying that you think you are the best? A little hubris? And, by a little, I mean a lot.
Updated daily, the HR News home page is your one-stop shop for the latest news and featured articles. This page compiles top staff-written and external news of general interest to HR, plus major stories in the HR Disciplines.
Seen But Not Heard
Buying software sounds simple in theory but can be excruciatingly painful. From making sense of vendor marketing materials to narrowing down the best-fit product to using back channels to find out what real users think of the product. A time consuming endeavor.
In addition to all the research, you have to make sure that the software you choose will help you navigate any changes in your organization or industry for the foreseeable future.
Updated daily, the HR News home page is your one-stop shop for the latest news and featured articles. This page compiles top staff-written and external news of general interest to HR, plus major stories in the HR Disciplines.
FBI: Over 80 Percent of Active Shooter Incidents Occur at Work
By Roy Maurer 3/3/2015
During this time of having our hyper-partisan political world dominate the new cycles and hijack any remaining common sense from our elected officials, it may seem easiest to just give up and label Washington and/or your state capital as nothing more than expensive real estate occupied by idiots. While this last statement may still be true, it still matters that we reach out and let people know about issues and problems that impact the good things we do. Yes, your voice can make a difference!
More than ever before, we as young professionals have to drive our careers. I think more than ever before, we as young professionals have a desire to drive our careers. I look at it this way - if I’m not proactively working through the process of my next role, or of that next experience to be gained, then who is? Now, as optimists, we all hope our employers are looking out for us as well – but we owe it to ourselves to work with our managers and mentors to get the best out of our careers!
While HR strategy, technology, talent management and analytics are important functions of the job, many HR professionals must first focus on the day-to-day employee relations that keep their workforces engaged and their retention numbers high.
Have you ever had an HR question that you researched and researched using various forms of media with no success finding a straightforward answer that addressed your exact question? You finally find something about the topic and all you get are generic responses followed by the standard tag line that “you shouldn’t take the information as legal advice blah blah blah”.
It’s surprisingly easy to make Twitter errors and as these can hinder you when using Twitter for hiring, here are 7 of the easiest to avoid.
1. Reacting
Behind the anonymity that Twitter can afford, some people can be very rude. Arguing for the sake of arguing. Disagreeing spitefully. Personally attacking. Even bullying.
Avoid reacting.
Updated daily, the HR News home page is your one-stop shop for the latest news and featured articles. This page compiles top staff-written and external news of general interest to HR, plus major stories in the HR Disciplines.
GAO: Pension Lump Sum Offers Need Better Explanations
Questions about how well pension plan participants understand lump-sum tradeoffs
By Stephen Miller, CEBS 3/2/2015