By Jennifer L. Lippi The P3 Initiative: What you should know In 2010, the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) announced a new regulatory strategy called “Plan, Prevent and Protect” (which has been dubbed the P3 Initiative). According to the DOL, the goal of the new...
By Kim Silvers, SPHR-CA What are the revisions in Federal Exempt Classifications? On March 13, 2014, President Obama issued a memorandum to the Secretary of Labor instructing her to "propose revisions to modernize and streamline the existing overtime regulations. In...
Employee wins round two By Jennifer L. Lippi A California employer is stinging from a reversal in a trial court's summary judgment ruling that a termination for unsatisfactory performance was defensible enough to withstand the employee's charge of age discrimination...
By Kim Silvers, SPHR-CA A few recent California court of appeal decisions have us shaking our collective heads over the extended liability employers have for employees who are off the job and off company premises. We'll begin with a situation that occurred after a...
We are receiving an increasing number of inquiries from California business owners on the compensation insights and trends for 2014. We're pleased to see the interest from and the ability for employers to finally begin to consider recognizing employees with...
By Christopher W. Olmsted It turns out that your Human Resources Director’s anxiety over possible labor agency audits is not mere paranoia; the government really is out to get you. The California labor agency, the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement (DLSE)...
The California Department of Industrial Relations just issued a revised fourth edition of the "Workers' Compensation Guide in California: A Guidebook for Injured Workers." This 94 page document is chock full of information employers should also know. There are two...
By Kim Silvers, SPHR-CA Minimizing Risks in Employment Terminations We receive calls everyday from employers ready to terminate employees for any number of reasons. We're their sounding board, giving them a learned ear to think out loud about the options and...
The recent US Supreme Court rulings in the cases of United States v. Windsor and Hollingsworth v. Perry, resulted in the elimination of a significant section of the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and the dismissal of a challenge to a lower court's ruling...
By Richard Pinsker, CMC and FIMC Pinsker and Company If you agree with me that employees are your most valuable asset, then hiring great talent is one of your top priorities. Most companies have some sort of hiring process to acquire talent, but those that make the...
Daily Tricks & Tips to Greater Productivity As a practice, whenever I speak to a group of businesspeople, I always offer them a 1/2 hour free coaching session with me. No matter the level or position in the organization, the majority of the time, the coaching...
By Kim Silvers, SPHR-CA What are the Five Most Common HR Questions? We receive many phone call and email inquiries everyday from California employers. Many calls are about employee performance issues and how to deal with them. (How to deal with the non-performers,...
Important (and Costly) Clarification about Exempt Employees Classifying an employee as exempt from overtime is risky business these days. We often work with employers to help them assess whether a position falls within the exempt category under the state's...
Violence in the Workplace: Should you be concerned? By Hector R. Alvarez, President, Alvarez Associates LLC I would like to share a personal perspective before we get into the article. On any typical day I’m either writing, responding to, studying or training on...
Employment Highlights by Kim Silvers, SPHR-CA It just gets more and more complicated - this California employer gig. Many of you are too busy to stay on top of the myriad of regulations that govern how you manage the human resources side of your business. We spend...
Rounding the Clock - Timekeeping See's Candy continues to have a special place in the hearts of Californians. They not only make a great product, but they recently won an appeal of a trial court decision that will make a long time timekeeping practice for all...
Strategies for Identifying & Hiring Great Employees By Jennifer Leake CMC®, Assessment Specialist for Silvers HR In many organizations, personnel costs are one of the largest budget items. Leaders in any business, regardless of size, need people aligned and...
By Kim Silvers, SPHR-CA A recent decision by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals gives employers some reinforcement to enforce attendance policies notwithstanding an employee's claim of the need for reasonable accommodation for a serious health condition. The...
Confidentiality in Workplace Investigations In many workplace investigations surrounding an employee complaint, employers routinely ask employees not to discuss the case with co-workers while the investigation is pending. This allows the investigator to protect the...
by Jeremiah Miller, Forging Leaders "Miah, your mom and I are getting divorced.” “Son, you’re going to need surgery to repair that knee.” “Listen Jeremiah, this isn’t working out. I think we should break up.” I’ve been on the receiving end of my share of awful...