• The HR Specialist - Print Newsletter
  • HR Specialist: Employment Law
  • The HR Weekly

Hiring

Housing grants help employees reduce their commutes

09/01/2006

While some Baltimore residents suffer through a one- or two-hour commute every morning, employees at Johns Hopkins University are sleeping a little later. Since the university began participating in Baltimore’s "Live Near Your Work" program in 1998, about 220 employees have received $2,000 grants to buy homes close to the university’s three campuses …

Part-Time Employees Earning Full-Time Benefits

09/01/2006

Starting this year, Kent, Wash.-based Recreational Equipment Inc. (REI) began offering some full-time benefits to their part-time employees. That’s no small change because the retailer employs nearly 4,000 employees who work fewer than 20 hours a week at 82 stores. But it gives the company a competitive advantage in recruitment and retention, says Jeff Johnson, director of compensation and benefits …

Survey: Fertility coverage won’t spike employers’ costs

09/01/2006

Ninety-one percent of employers that provide coverage for fertility treatment haven’t experienced a related increase in their medical costs, according to a new survey of 900 employers by Mercer Health and Benefits …

New grants to help build skilled biotech work force

09/01/2006

Gov. Perry announced $3 million in grants to five programs aimed at building a skilled work force to meet the needs of Texas’ growing biotech and life science industry. The grants are the first awarded under the Meeting Industries’ Critical Workforce Needs grant program …

Lead your organization toward globalization: 6 steps

09/01/2006

With more organizations reaching their tentacles into far-flung places, HR is being called to respond. Key indicator: Employers are spending more time searching for talent, specifically people who can and will work and succeed in other countries …

Employees going to college? Help with tuition, career path

09/01/2006

It’s back-to-school time, and not just for children. Many of your employees—and would-be employees—will enroll in college classes this fall. And while those courses will make employees more competent and promotion-worthy, they’ll also wreak havoc on their schedules, both at work and at home …

Recruiting execs? Examine military experience

09/01/2006

Companies led by CEOs with military experience have outperformed the S&P 500 Index over the past three-, five- and 10-year periods by as much as 20 percentage points, according to a study by executive search firm Korn/Ferry International …

Résumé-Screening software: legal risks and precautions

09/01/2006

The federal job anti-discrimination law (Title VII of the Civil Rights Act) prohibits two types of discrimination: disparate treatment and disparate impact. Because automated tests, such as résumé-screening programs, are blind to applicants’ race, religion, gender and national origin, they likely can’t create a disparate-treatment case. However, such programs can still have a disparate impact on minorities …

IRS warns about independent contractor errors

08/01/2006

The IRS issued a fact sheet this summer to remind employers to correctly classify workers as either independent contractors or employees. (IRS FS-2006-21) The main factor: control …

Be on guard for often-Overlooked ‘Associated with’ claims

08/01/2006

A frequently disregarded ADA provision often catches employers by surprise. The ADA, which prohibits discrimination of disabled people at work, also bans discrimination against employees because they "associate with" someone who is disabled …