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HR Management

Health care reform: Mark your calendar with these milestones

08/24/2010
When President Obama signed health care reform legislation in March, the clock started ticking on a series of changes that HR professionals will be dealing with for at least the next eight years. Here’s your timeline of what to expect.

Constant hiring means high-speed, nonstop training

08/24/2010

One of the country’s fastest-growing companies, LTC Financial Partners is looking for 300 new sales agents—and when those jobs are filled, more will open. Because the organization is constantly hiring, it’s also constantly trying to get new employees up to speed. So it created the LTC Insurance Training Institute to get recruits ready to work within five days.

5 tips to avoid liability for benefit plan mistakes

08/24/2010
Anyone with responsibility for health, benefit, disability, severance, education or other benefit plans is a “fiduciary” and can be held personally liable for plan errors under ERISA. Attorney Sherwin Kaplan says employers should take these steps to avoid errors that could subject a fiduciary to liability:

California cities rated among best for working mothers

08/23/2010
Six California metropolitan areas ranked in the top 50 on Forbes magazine’s 2010 list of the nation’s best cities for working mothers. Forbes rated the cities against criteria that considered women’s income, cost of living, availability of pediatricians, safety, employment opportunities and spending on education.

10 ways to motivate employees toward self-empowerment

08/20/2010
Managers and HR pros can’t empower employees, but they can create an environment that motivates them to want to act in an empowered way. Here is a 10-step model for encouraging and motivating employees. It will help them build the confidence they need to empower themselves to make decisions and take risks:

Chicago ranks 21st in best cities for working mothers

08/18/2010

Chicago ranked 21st on Forbes magazine’s latest list of the top 50 U.S. cities for working mothers. Forbes ranked metropolitan areas according to women’s income, cost of living, availability of pediatricians, safety, employment opportunities and spending on education.

Hiring MS Word experts? Look ‘inside’ the résumé

08/18/2010

When hiring people who tout themselves as Microsoft Word “experts,” here’s a way to see if they really know how to use the software: Ask them to send the résumé in Word format, then simply click the Show/Hide button. It can reveal telltale signs of rookie moves.

Online learning: Back-to-school picks

08/17/2010
Autumn brings with it a “back to school” feeling that can be sated only with a seminar or course. And there’s no easier, more affordable source for online learning than iTunes. Find out about this new, free training resource that just might work in your organization.

The HR I.Q. Test: August ’10

08/13/2010
Test your knowledge of recent trends in employment law, comp & benefits and other HR issues with our monthly mini-quiz …

Illness won’t bar unemployment; violating call-in policy may

08/12/2010
Employees who are terminated because they become ill and can’t meet attendance standards can still collect unemployment compensation benefits. But employees terminated because they didn’t follow call-in policies can’t. That’s misconduct, which bars receiving benefits.