human resources

July 1, 2008

The Rumor Mill

Loose lips tighten with age, as baby boomers who now keep quiet and respect authority have learned. Younger people have grown up in an era of readily accessible information that is shared immediately. Since younger, less experienced people do not recognize the need to safeguard company and personal information; employers must clarify their expectations of confidentiality. Strategic information leaks can destroy a business. Protecting confidential information is vital, yet few businesses explain this to their employees. Every company has an in the know person who uses information to start the rumors flying. The person may be at any level in […]
June 1, 2008

Civil Rights in the 21st Century

President Bush signed the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 (GINA) into law last week. This law prohibits discrimination of applicants and employees based on genetic information. Senator Ted Kennedy who worked on this legislation for over ten years, referred to it as the first major new civil rights bill of the new century. It passed in the House 414-1 and in the Senate 95-0. Genetic information is defined as an individual’s own tests; the genetic tests of family members; and the manifestation of a disease or disorder in family members. Family member is defined as the spouse; a dependent […]
May 1, 2008

Analyzing Office Romance

There are plenty of statistics about office romance yet little direct advice. Office romance happens. People spend more time at work than anywhere else. Few people can argue that work is a great place to meet people with similar interests and values. OfficeClick.com’s survey indicated 66% know of a relationship that started at work. CareerBuilder.com found 40% of those surveyed dated a coworker and of those, 29% ended up marrying the coworker. Vault.com had similar findings; 47% of 1000 surveyed had been involved in an office romance with roughly 24% resulting in a long-term relationship or marriage. Though romance seems […]
April 1, 2008

Revise Your FMLA Policy (In Pencil)

President Bush amended the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) this past January to permit a family member to be a caregiver for a covered service member, extending the absence to 26 weeks in a twelve month period. In addition, as soon as the Secretary of Labor defines “any qualifying exigency” Family Medical Leave may be taken when a family member is called to active duty. FMLA, enacted in 1993, is a relatively new law compared to most Department of Labor (DOL) laws. Basically, the law allows employees who have worked a minimum of 1,250 hours and the previous twelve months […]