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.
SHRM Research: Communicating and Leveraging Benefits
Consider setting aside funds for an employee benefits communication program
By Stephen Miller, CEBS 3/17/2015
Three new reports on strategic benefits, released by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) on March 17, 2015, provide insight on informing employees about the value of their benefits package and using employee benefits to recruit and retain employees. To continue reading this article, please click here.
Paid Sick Leave, Data Privacy Top Emerging Topics in Employee Handbooks
By Dana Wilkie 3/16/2015
Paid sick leave for employees who previously didn’t have access to it—a relatively new legal issue for many workplaces—tops the list of emerging topics most commonly being added to employee handbooks, with data privacy second and social media use a close third, according to an XpertHR survey released March 12, 2015. To continue reading this article, please click here.
Workplace Biometric Technology Outpacing the Law
By Toni Vranjes 3/16/2015
Our fingerprints, our eyes, our voices, our DNA—they’re all a part of what makes us uniquely us. That’s why this technology is so valuable for companies, but it’s also why some people harbor privacy and security worries. To continue reading this article, please click here.
Beyond Salary, Employees Want More Paid Time Off
Encourage staff to take the vacation time they've earned and disconnect while out of the office
By Stephen Miller, CEBS 3/16/2015
As the focus on employee recruitment and retention sharpens in a recovering economy, some executives may be undervaluing the benefit their workforce wants most, suggests new research from temporary staffing firm Accountemps. To continue reading this article, please click here.
Md.: $830,000 Awarded Against Lockheed for Retaliation
By Allen Smith 3/16/2015
Retaliation in violation of a local county’s anti-discrimination code can prove costly, as Lockheed Martin has learned the hard way. It got socked with an $830,000 jury verdict in the Circuit Court of Montgomery County, Md., on March 13, 2015, for retaliation in violation of the Montgomery County Code, and may be held responsible for more than $200,000 in attorney fees and costs, according to Adam Carter, an attorney at The Employment Law Group in Washington, D.C. To continue reading this article, please click here.
USW Reaches Tentative Agreement with Shell
By Allen Smith 3/13/2015
The United Steelworkers (USW) announced March 12, 2015, that it has reached a tentative agreement on a new four-year contract with Shell Oil as a pattern agreement for the rest of the industry. To continue reading this article, please click here.
Utah: Governor Signs Landmark LGBT and Religious Expression Anti-Discrimination Bill
© Jackson Lewis 3/13/2015
Utah Gov. Gary Herbert, a Republican, signed into law a bi-partisan bill protecting lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people from discrimination. While other states and local governments are considering similar initiatives, the Utah law is the first enacted legislation that seeks to balance LGBT rights with religious expression concerns. To continue reading this article, please click here.