Battle over certifications rages on
Dave Shadovitz of HRE Daily checks in on the battle for HR certification. He looks at the growth of SHRM certifications and the impact on HR Certification Institute’s Professional in Human Resources (PHR) and Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) certifications.
12 mistakes employers make in paying non-exempt workers
Jon Hyman, Ohio Employer’s Law Blog
Given that on December 1, 4.2 million exempt workers will transition to non-exempt status, it is timely that the Richmond Times-Dispatch though to share 9 mistakes employers make in paying hourly/non-exempt workers. I’ve added numbers 10, 11, and 12.
There is no time like the present to correct any of these errors you might be making with your non-exempt employees. I’ve covered (almost) all of these topics before, so follow the links for a deeper dive.
Best practices: Relocation and trailing spouses – Ask #HR Bartender
The term “trailing spouse” refers to someone who follows their significant other because of a work assignment. When organizations ask an employee to relocate or take an extended temporary assignment, they need to think about the impact that decision has on an employee’s family.
Workplace violence: Protecting workers who care for violent clients
Jennifer Busick, EHS Daily Advisor
Sometimes the workers who care the most are at the highest risk. Violent injuries to workers in mental health facilities, assisted-living facilities, home health care, and other caring professions are often so commonplace that workers come to accept them as “part of the job.” But the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is less accepting, as a Nebraska employer discovered after a pregnant caregiver was assaulted by a client and ended up in the hospital.
OSHA investigated the incident and cited the employer under the General Duty Clause.
Leaves of absence current focus of EEOC’s new ADA accommodation guidance: Love it or leave it
Julie Furer Stahr, National Law Review
The EEOC’s message to employers is clear: leave requests should be liberally considered and granted if needed to accommodated a disability, except where undue hardship can be shown. This is true even where the employer does not offer leave as an employee benefit, or the employee is not eligible under the employer’s leave policies, or where the employee has exhausted any allotted leave under employer policies or state or federal leave laws. In short, if a disabled employee needs leave, employers should try and make it work.
Transgender challenges
Juliann Walsh, Risk & Insurance
North Carolina’s dispute with the federal government over transgender use of bathrooms affects the wider issue of workplace discrimination.
The rise of the bots: 11 ways your business can prepare
Lisa Morgan, Information Week
Business is ripe for a bot explosion. The foundational technologies are available, industry behemoths are fanning the fire, users are demanding better experiences, and companies are looking for new ways to optimize their financial performance. Are you ready?
Workspaces that move people
Ben Waber, Jennifer Magnolfi, Greg Lindsay – Harvard Business Review
How do we know whether any of these approaches is effective? The key metric companies use to measure space—cost per square foot—is focused on efficiency. Few companies measure whether a space’s design helps or hurts performance, but they should. They have the means. The same sensors, activity trackers, smartphones, and social networks that they eagerly foist on customers to reveal their habits and behavior can be turned inward, on employees in their work environments, to learn whether it’s true that getting engineers and salespeople talking actually works.
Related: Is the open-plan office really right for you? Pros and cons of removing walls
Leave your personal life at home (video). That is how most employers and businesses operate. But the Utah Suicide Prevention Coalition wants more people to be willing to break that office taboo and ask tough questions about mental health that could potentially save a life.
More HR news of note
- 8 questions a hiring manager should never ask
- Sample announcements to welcome a new employee
- The 10 oddest things HR managers have caught employees doing
- 16 stupid ways employees get themselves fired!
- School’s out! So what’s with this summer employment law quiz?
- Want to defeat ADA claims? Draft better job descriptions, experts say
- When it comes to workplace noise, Millennials can’t even
- EEOC pushes NLRB to find common ground on workplace harassment
- Are you churning employees? Here’s how to stop
- 5 reasons you should close your inbox completely this summer holiday
- NSC: One third of workers say their employers prioritize productivity over safety
- Here’s what people are using social media for at work
- Insurance quiz time! Test your knowledge
- How to make your company attractive to skilled workers
- Survey says: Top three policy management challenges
- Dramatic photo makes compelling case for safety glasses!