Reflections on HR Certification vs. Competence
“The Society for Human Resource Management’s certification announcement raises a simple but important question: What is the role of certification (vs. competence) in the development of a field?”
Dave Ulrich and Wayne Brockbank, Human Resource Executive Online
EEOC cracks down on employer’s “English-only” rule
“The EEOC yesterday announced that it has filed a lawsuit against a Wisconsin metal and plastic products manufacturer, claiming that it fired a group of foreign employees because of their national origin. According to the lawsuit, each of the 10 fired employees received overall satisfactory ratings on their annual performance evaluations, but received mark-downs for their English skills, which the EEOC alleges were not needed to perform their jobs.”
John Hyman, Ohio Employer’s Law Blog
Want to Reduce Health Care Cost? Improve Manager Performance
“The work environment created by first-line supervisors and managers has a direct effect on employee well-being and, consequently, on health and health care cost.
A growing body of studies shows, for example, that supervisor and manager behavior affects individuals’ blood pressure and risk of heart disease. To test this relationship, researchers at the Karolinska Institute and Stockholm University in Sweden tracked the cardiovascular health of male employees aged 19 to 70 over nearly a decade.
Those who deemed their managers to be the least competent had a 25 percent higher risk of a serious heart problem. In a British study published in 2005, the researchers found that men who described their supervisors as fair and just had reduced stress and a 30 percent lower risk of coronary heart disease than those who said they were treated unfairly at work.”
Thomas O. Davenport, TLNT
Why Zappos Is Getting Rid of Job Listings
“The Amazon-owned, Las Vegas-based online shoe retailer sees the move as a way to move its recruiting toward personal relationships and networking. Job listings, Bailen said, put too much focus on the listing and not enough on the people who might fill the very job being listed.”
Adam Vaccaro, Boston.com
5 facts about today’s fathers
“As the American family changes, fatherhood is changing in important and sometimes surprising ways. Recent Pew Research Center studies show that fathers who live with their children are taking a more active role in caring for them and helping out around the house. And the ranks of stay-at-home fathers and single fathers have grown significantly in recent decades. At the same time, more and more children are growing up without a father in the home.
The changing role of fathers has introduced new challenges, as dads juggle the competing demands of family and work. Here are some key findings about fathers from recent Pew Research Center reports.”
Kim Parker, Pew Research
For addicts, there may be another road to wellness
NPR: “The Betty Ford Center, an alcohol and drug rehabilitation clinic, is famous for its intensive rehabilitation that takes patients out of their regular lives. New thinking in the medical community, however, advocates treating addiction as a chronic illness that requires lifelong care.”
Reviewing Your Personnel Policies
“Whether a company employs 10 or 10,000 people, personnel policies and procedures are often the first line of defense in an employment lawsuit. Depending on the business’s culture and needs, an effective employee handbook can be as short as a few pages, or as long as a small novel. It is not the size, but the content that counts. Every handbook, at a minimum, should contain the following five elements, and risk managers need to be sure they are written in a way that appropriately complies with applicable federal and local laws.”
Tonya G. Newman and Sonya Rosenberg , Risk Management
Workplace Bullying: A Cautionary Trip Around the World
“Research has found that workplace bullying, an internal occurrence undertaken by manager and/or co-workers, leads to more workers leaving their job than violence, which is typically inflicted by sources external to a company. Research has also found that workers who witness bullying can have a stronger urge to quit than those who experience it firsthand. Findings from a July 2012 study of nurses in Canada showed that all who experienced bullying, either directly or indirectly, reported a greater desire to quit their jobs than those who did not. The 2014 Workplace Bullying Institute (WBI) survey of the U.S. workplace found that it appeared those who vicariously experienced bullying found that the severity of emotional injuries were similar in severity to injuries suffered by bullied individuals.”
Ellen Pinkos Cobb, J.D., OH&S
Will California’s Ruling Against Teacher Tenure Change Schools?
[In Vergara v. California} “… a California superior-court judge ruled that the state’s teacher tenure system discriminates against kids from low-income families. Based on testimony that one to three percent of California teachers are likely “grossly ineffective”—thousands of people, who mostly teach at low-income schools—he reasoned that current tenure policies “impose a disproportionate burden on poor and minority students.” The ruling, in Vergara v. California, has the potential to overturn five state laws governing how long it takes for a teacher to earn tenure; the legal maneuvers necessary to remove a tenured teacher; and which teachers are laid off first in the event of budget cuts or school closings.”
Dana Goldstein, The Atlantic
Myth vs. Fact: Violence and Mental Health
“To separate the facts from the media hype, we talked to Dr. Jeffrey Swanson, a professor in psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Duke University School of Medicine, and one of the leading researchers on mental health and violence. Swanson talked about the dangers of passing laws in the wake of tragedy ― and which new violence prevention strategies might actually work.”
Lois Beckett, ProPublica
Tapping into the Potential of Your Company’s Superstars
“Your business is full of imposters posing as high-potential employees, but if you dig a little deeper, you can separate those posers from the real deal.”
Tomas Chamorro_premuzic, Dast Company
Are you in an unhealthy office relationship?
“If you spend more waking hours in your office than with your significant other, you and your workspace had better be a good match. Studies have shown that office buildings aren’t benign containers but active contributors to good — or poor — health, mood and productivity. Your office can do you right or wrong in many ways, till demolition do you part.”
Bonnie Berkowitz and Laura Stanton, Washington Post
Compliance Corner

News Briefs


ESI%20TotalCare%20Wellness%20Logo%20%282%29.jpg
Looking for the most comprehensive and effective wellness program for your employees? ESI TotalCare Wellness pairs Behavioral Health Clinicians with certified Wellness Coaches to provide employees and their families with the help, motivation, tools and support to make changes and improve their lives. Call 800-535-4841 for more information.

BACK TO ALL POSTS

Request a Quote