One-stop regulatory resource. Researching federal regulatory information just got a whole lot easier. The fed’s new website Business.gov bills itself as the U.S. government’s official link to business and a one-stop compliance resource. The site is managed by the US Small Business Administration in collaboration with more than 20 other federal agencies. The stated purpose is to serve as a gateway or single access point to government services and information.
Legal issues that keep HR managers awake at night – In an article in Human Resource Executive entitled Liable Nightmares, legal experts pinpoint and discuss five major areas of concern to human resource executives: class-action lawsuits, harassment claims, retaliation claims, leave issues, and wage-and-hour class-action cases.
More Employee Problems at Wal-Mart – It’s not easy to maintain the market position as the lowest cost retailer. Its a hard fought battle, and some think that all too often, employees are the casualties. Earlier in the week, we learned how a Pennsylvania court levied a $78 million dollar judgement against the retail behemoth for requiring employees to go off the clock during lunches and breaks. Now, Business Week brings us a story about 200 Florida workers who walked off the job to protest new policies and procedures. Among the grievances: cutting the hours of full-time employees from 40 hours a week to 32 hours, with a corresponding wage cut; a policy that workers be available for shifts around the clock; and a move to computerized rather than human scheduling, which workers felt would result in erratic schedules. According to the article:
The scheduling changes, which have been rolled out in Wal-Mart stores around the country in recent weeks, are a sign that the retailer is acting on ideas outlined in an internal document that was leaked last year. In the memo, a Wal-Mart executive said it would find ways to rid its payroll of full-time and unhealthy employees who are more expensive for the company to retain.
Wal-Mart executives have recently told Wall Street analysts that the company wants to transform its workforce from 20% part-time to 40%.
This employee action has all the flavor of unionization, although Wal-Mart is strong in its anti-union stance, even closing a Canadian store that had voted in a union.
How to run a meeting like Google – You can’t argue with Google’s success, so you might as well learn from it. Marissa Mayer, Google’s vice-president of search products, holds an average of 70 meetings a week. She shares her tips on six key steps to running an effective meeting.
Alphabet soup – Do employee benefit acronyms leave you flummoxed? Can’t keep your ADA straight from your ADB? Atty. B. Janell Grenier has compiled a handy Benefit Acronym Lexicon. Also, for the latest in tax, benefits, and ERISA law, visit her blog, Benefitsblog.