HRMagazine back issues from May 2009:
Employing older workers.(RESEARCH)(Brief article)
May 01, 2009 ... Employing Older Workers While many organizations have developed training initiatives for a culturally diverse workforce, few have grappled with age as ...
Streamlining open enrollment.(BENEFITS)(Brief article)
May 01, 2009 ... Streamlining Open Enrollment How can HR professionals make sure their companies' next open enrollments are as headache-free as ...
Equity value falls.(COMPENSATION)(Brief article)
May 01, 2009 ... Equity Value Falls U.S. companies say they will not be delivering the same equity value to their executives in 2009, a ...
Embrace accountability.(BUSINESS LEADERSHIP)(Brief article)
May 01, 2009 ... Embrace Accountability Building personal accountability among employees should be the heart and soul of a ...
Taking 'no' for an answer.(CONSULTING)(Brief article)
May 01, 2009 ... Taking 'No' for an Answer Although HR consultants often hear the word "no," it can take some getting used to. But, receiving a ...
Gaps in employment.(HR CAREERS)(Brief article)
May 01, 2009 ... Gaps in Employment In the current economy, being out of a job for an extended period no longer carries the stigma it once did for top ...
Social integration.(DIVERSITY)(Brief article)
May 01, 2009 ... Social Integration People from different races, ethnic groups, religions and cultures come together in workplaces every week and work side by side toward common organizational goals. However, at ...
Internships: down, not out.(STAFFING MANAGEMENT)(Brief article)
May 01, 2009 ... Internships: Down, Not Out Employers are cutting the number of internships they will offer to college students this year. But, employers ...
Points-based wellness programs.(SHRM VIDEOS)
May 01, 2009 ... Points-Based Wellness Programs Awarding incentive points can boost participation in wellness programs and achieve lasting behavioral change, says Mindy McGrath, a vice president with Maritz Inc. Also available: * Kathleen McComber, SPHR, on developing contingencies ...
SHRM webcasts.(Online Highlights)
May 01, 2009 ... * Developments in Labor Law * Drug Testing in the Workplace * Green Recruiting ...
Prepare to succeed.(From the CEO)(Column)
May 01, 2009; ... In my February column, I talked about the need to anticipate the changes that are coming--in business, labor, government and the economy. We know the financial and social challenges facing today's workplaces require HR solutions. As I've said before, this is HR's time to lead. But how do ...
Amended union bill could be a win-win.(From Readers)(Letter to the editor)
May 01, 2009; ... Although the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) has a few flaws, I am not pleased with SHRM's opposition to the act, as noted in HR Magazine ("HR News," March). SHRM should be working with the new administration by requesting amendments to the act. One change should require unions ...
Religious expression OK in the Workplace.(From Readers)(Letter to the editor)
May 01, 2009; ... Unlike the author of "Keep Proselytizing Out of the Workplace" ("From Readers," February), I am convinced that it is best for any company to protect the right of free religious expression for all of its employees, whether they be the Christian clerk in the mailroom or the Muslim vice ...
Survey: HR professionals pessimistic about U.S. job market.(HR News)(human resource )(Survey)(Brief article)
May 01, 2009; ... More than two-thirds of HR Professionals (70 percent) are pessimistic about job growth and anticipate job losses during the second quarter of 2009, according to a survey published in April by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM). The Labor Market Outlook Survey, Q2 ...
Employers feel the pain: more staff and pay cuts expected.(HR News)(Survey)(Brief article)
May 01, 2009; ... In March, the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) polled its members to gauge how employers are responding to the U.S. and worldwide recession. The responses were compared to those from a similar poll SHRM conducted in October 2008. "Many organizations are looking for ...
High Court weighs 'mixed-motive' age discrimination cases.(HR News)
May 01, 2009; ... The U.S. Supreme Court on March 31 heard arguments in a lawsuit that will have an impact on when the employer--rather than the employee--has the burden of proof in a "mixed-motive" case arising under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA). [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] ...
U.S. Supreme Court enforces mandatory arbitration clause.(HR News)
May 01, 2009; ... In a 5-4 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court on April 1 enforced a collective bargaining agreement clause that clearly and unmistakably required union members to arbitrate claims arising under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), reversing a lower court's ruling. The court noted ...
Investigation faults federal wage and hour enforcement workers.(HR News)
May 01, 2009; ... An undercover investigation of the government agency responsible for enforcing federal wage and hour and child labor laws has revealed evidence of negligence, incompetence and dishonesty among the agency's employees. Investigators from the U.S. Government Accountability Office ...
EEOC stats show spike in discrimination charges.(Briefs)(Employment Opportunity Commission )(Brief article)
May 01, 2009 ... The number of age discrimination claims rose from 19,103 in 2007 to 24,582 in 2008, while retaliation claims rose from 26,663 to 32,690, just hundreds shy of overtaking the perennial No. 1 type of charge filed with the U.S. Equal ...
IRS clarifies COBRA subsidy rules.(Briefs)(Internal Revenue Service)(Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act)(Brief article)
May 01, 2009 ... The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) published a notice March 31 clarifying COBRA subsidy rules introduced in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), The ARRA provides that certain individuals who have the right to continue group health coverage because of an ...
Overtime decisions challenged.(Briefs)(Brief article)
May 01, 2009 ... Employers may be trying to reduce overtime to save money. But blanket policies that prohibit any employees with medical restrictions from working overtime are coming under fire. United Airlines settled an Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) claim challenging its policy of not letting ...
401(k) sponsors' lax monitoring creates fiduciary risk.(HR News)(Survey)
May 01, 2009; ... Just 58 percent of 401(k) plan sponsors maintain minutes of retirement plan meetings, only 27 percent say they use an independent party to analyze plan fees, and just 29 percent have established a "clear chain of authority for their plan's governance committee." Given the ...
Stereotypes impact talent management, study suggests.(HR News)(Survey)(Brief article)
May 01, 2009; ... Despite women's professional, political and personal successes, the ideal leader continues to be described by male leadership traits, according to a study. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Gender biases and stereotypes might be embedded into the most sophisticated talent ...
Multinational companies will see more immigration enforcement.(HR News)
May 01, 2009; ... Multinational corporations can expect to see more workplace immigration enforcement as the world economy continues to falter and countries attempt to throw up barriers to illegal migration, an international immigration expert said. Companies, especially those in the European ...
U.S. severance remains generous, despite recession.(HR News)(Survey)(Brief article)
May 01, 2009 ... More than 80 percent of employers surveyed by Hewitt Associates conducted layoffs in the previous 24 months, and 45 percent intend to make further reductions in the next 12 months. The good news: About one-half of those companies offer one to two weeks of pay for every year of service, and ...
60 Percent of older workers delay retirement.(HR News)(Survey)(Brief article)
May 01, 2009 ... Sixty percent of workers over age 60 say they are putting off their retirement because of the impact of the financial crisis on their long-term savings, according to a CareerBuilder survey. One in 10 of these workers say the decrease to savings ...
'A new day' for safety and health.(HR News)(Occupational Safety and Health Administration )
May 01, 2009; ... While labor leaders argue that the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) isn't doing enough to protect America's workers, most observers agree that the election of President Barack Obama and the largely Democratic Congress will bring a stepped-up emphasis on workers' ...
Political correctness stifles conversations about race.(HR News)
May 01, 2009; ... Diversity experts agree that it's time to have "courageous conversations" about race. "We, average Americans, simply do not talk enough with each other about race," said U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder during a speech at the Department of Justice African American History Month ...
A recruiter gives outplacement services a shot.(Executive Briefing)(Brief article)
May 01, 2009; ... For the last few years, Talent Connections, an Atlanta recruiting and executive search firm, has been one of the fastest-growing private companies in the United States, claims owner Tom Darrow. But with the unemployment rate edging toward double digits, Darrow found himself with too much ...
Study shows smoke-free policies cut hospitalization costs.(Executive Briefing)
May 01, 2009 ... A federal study adds weight to the growing body of research citing the benefits of a smoke-free workplace. Researchers in Pueblo, Colo., observed a sharp decrease in heart attack hospitalizations after implementation of a municipal law making workplaces and public places ...
HR chief sought at an EEOC plagued with problems.(Executive Briefing)(United States. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission)(Brief article)
May 01, 2009 ... The federal agency that guards against discriminatory employment practices is having some human resource problems of its own. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has a mounting case backlog, attributable in part to insufficient staff. Some 95,402 charges of ...
Tax break proposed for companies that offer wellness benefits.(Executive Briefing)
May 01, 2009 ... Federal lawmakers are considering making it easier for companies to offer health risk assessments and other health-related perks. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Under a proposal introduced by Sens. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, and John Cornyn, R-Texas, and Reps. Earl Blumenauer, ...
Stimulus gives lift to aircraft manufacturers.(Executive Briefing)(Brief article)
May 01, 2009 ... No sooner do lawmakers take auto executives to the woodshed for flying to Washington, D.C., in corporate jets than they restrict bonuses and other forms of pay for top managers at banks and other companies getting financial fixes from the stimulus package. But Washington often ...
Sharing hotel rooms, leave for child care, retention and turnover.(Solutions)
May 01, 2009; ... Our travel budget has been drastically cut. May we require employees to share a hotel room while on business travel? [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] There is no law prohibiting employers from requiring employees on business travel to share a hotel room. However, doing so may ...
Rescuing pension plans: recession-swamped plans for retirement may need help to stay afloat; some older workers, though, have been left with a sinking feeling.(Cover story)(Survey)(Statistical data)
May 01, 2009; ... The recession will end, the economy will recover, and the aftershocks will subside. But it may take longer to repair fractures in some long-held assumptions about investing and planning for retirement. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Not long ago, employers were lamenting the ...
Exercising healthy judgment.(Profile)
May 01, 2009; ... Plenty of data suggest that active, fit employees have lower health care costs and, generally speaking, are more productive than couch potatoes. But there is no consensus on how to get people to exercise more, eat better or make other healthy lifestyle changes. Nor is there agreement on ...
Defusing discrimination claims: careful handling of bias complaints can keep your organization out of court.(Employee Relations)
May 01, 2009; ... When former police officer Anthony Hogan accused his supervisor in the Kansas City police department of age discrimination, the department looked into the matter and decided to fight the claim. Hindsight suggests the investigation could have been more thorough, though it was good enough to ...
New challenges.(Annual Conference & Exposition )
May 01, 2009; ... To all HR professionals, When you think of today's extraordinary business climate, do these words come to mind? Optimism, innovation, expansion or investment? Probably not. Today, most organizations don't view the world as one of possibilities. But it's my fervent ...
HR leadership for the new economy.(Brief article)
May 01, 2009; ... Sunday, June 28 | 2:30 p.m.-4:00 p.m. Jack Welch is a business writer of a widely read weekly column "The Welch Way," which he writes with his wife, Suzy Welch. This column appears in BusinessWeek magazine and is published by the New York Times syndicate in more than 45 major ...
Our keynote speakers have been recognized around the world for their thought leadership and inspirational messages.(NEW INSPIRATION.)(Brief article)
May 01, 2009 ... Earl G. Graves, Sr. MONDAY, June 29 8:30 a.m. - 9:45 a.m. Earl G. Graves, Sr. is the founder and publisher of Black Enterprise magazine and a nationally recognized authority on black business development. Today he is chairman of Earl G. Graves Ltd., the ...
New solutions: SHRM designed the Annual Conference & Exposition to provide you with the solutions for the challenges you face every day.(Society for Human Resource Management)(Conference news)
May 01, 2009 ... Employment Law & Legislative Topics The new Administration will bring unparalleled changes to the workplace--changes that impact laws, legislation, regulation and compliance. Listed below is a selection of the sessions at the Annual Conference that feature the latest in ...
HR in the federal sector.(NEW VISION.)(Brief article)
May 01, 2009 ... As an HR professional in the federal government, you play a vital role in aligning your agency's human capital strategy with its organizational mission, goals and objectives. This program will increase your HR proficiency, helping you fulfill goals as outlined in key legislation and ...
Career transition center.(NEW VISION.)(Brief article)
May 01, 2009 ... SHRM proudly announces our new career transition center. Sponsored exclusively by Lee Hecht Harrison, the global talent management solutions company with over 240 offices worldwide, the ...
Two new super sunday sessions.(NEW VISION.)(Society of Human Resource Management )(Conference news)(Brief article)
May 01, 2009 ... Deja Vu all Over Again - Health Care Reform 15 Years Later Session # 904 Workplace Application: This session is designed to give you the latest information on pending efforts to reform our nations health care system and the implications for HR. President ...
New connections.(Sheryl Crow as a music teacher )(Brief article)
May 01, 2009; ... Sheryl Crow, one of the world's most popular artists, brings vision and inspiration to every new release, connecting audiences around the globe. Join your colleagues and friends for an exceptional performance. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Crow, known for her rock, folk and ...
New beginnings: this year, attendees at the 2009 SHRM Annual Conference in June will have a chance to make a difference for some New Orleans families.(Society of Human Resource Management)(Brief article)
May 01, 2009 ... As you'll see, downtown New Orleans is back in business--704 New Orleans restaurants, nightspots and hotels are listed in the 2009 Zagat Survey--but some residential neighborhoods outside the downtown area still need rebuilding since hurricanes Katrina and Rita tore through the Gulf Coast ...
Tending talent: academic research--and practitioners' experiences--demonstrate mentoring's return on investment.(Organizational Development)
May 01, 2009; ... It's no news flash, of course, that great futures come from mentoring--the pairing of managers with proteges or peers to share knowledge, offer guidance, lend informal learning and help build careers. As organizations continue to face the recession's tightening grip, however, ...
Mentors and proteges tell their stories.(Organization Development)
May 01, 2009; ... Sometimes, Mentoring Leads to New Paths In the early 1990s, Pam Schilling was part of a new financial management development program at a large telecommunications company. The intent was to build the next generation of leaders--and it included formal mentoring. She ...
Make mentoring memorable.(Organizational Development)
May 01, 2009; ... Along the way people planted seeds in my soul and spirit and added stones to the foundation I was trying to form. --Lisa Fain, quoted in Creating a Mentoring Culture: The Organization Guide by Lois Zachary (John Wiley and Sons, 2005). When I began my human resources ...
Workplace stress? Deal with it! The recession has erased the dividing line between tensions at home and stresses on the job.(Benefits Agenda)
May 01, 2009; ... As the recession has deepened, employees increasingly have been bringing their worries to work. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Polls show that concerns about jobs and personal finances are paramount for many workers. For example, 47 percent of respondents to a recent ...
Two needs, one solution: it's easier and more affordable than ever to integrate systems for learning and performance management.(HR Technology Agenda)
May 01, 2009; ... Mike DeVries, SPHR, knew the status quo needed to change. "We didn't have a good system on goals [and] development plans, tracking progress throughout the year," says DeVries, vice president of human resources at Cummins Mid-South LLC, a Memphis, Tenn., company that distributes diesel ...
Vetting, carefully: during tough times, exercising continuous due diligence on technology vendors can protect your organization if they fail.(HR Technology)
May 01, 2009; ... In this troubled economy, HR executives are wrestling with budget cuts, delaying new programs and managing layoffs while trying to boost the morale of the employees who remain. In this once-in-a-career maelstrom, they could be forgiven for not paying attention to their HR software ...
The seduction of potential: don't fall into the trap of trying to turn around a poor performer. Know when to cut your losses and get out.(Management Tools)
May 01, 2009; ... It takes a lot of time, energy and resources to find, interview and hire a good candidate. Once you go through that arduous, time-consuming process, you don't want to let that person go in three months, six months or a year, only to have to do it all over again. So, instead of cutting your ...
Enforceability of guns prohibition depends on state law.(Court Report)
May 01, 2009; ... In February, the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals determined that Oklahoma laws supporting the right of individuals to possess firearms in locked vehicles on company property are not pre-empted by the federal Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSH Act) and therefore are enforceable ....
Plan sponsor has no duty to disclose sharing of fees.
May 01, 2009; ... The sponsor of a 401(k) plan had no fiduciary duty under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) to notify plan participants of a fee-sharing arrangement between the plan trustee and its affiliated company, according to the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Deere & ...
Fired employee alleges libelous e-mail.
May 01, 2009; ... A company was entitled to deny the exercise of stock options and severance payments to an employee fired for cause, according to the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. It also held that truthful statements arguably published with "actual malice" can give rise to a libel lawsuit. ...
A lighter touch for handbooks: handbooks should reflect your culture, not just the law.(Legal Trends)
May 01, 2009; ... If you haven't reviewed your employee handbook recently, it probably is time for HR to work with legal counsel to revise it again. This is too important a task to leave to corporate counsel alone. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Employee handbooks should serve as a guide for ...
HR does its part to rebuild New Orleans.(Inside SHRM)
May 01, 2009; ... The ground is dry, and tourists have returned to the hurricane-tossed city that human resource professionals helped rebuild, the site of the 2009 Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) 61st Annual Conference & Exposition. Nearly 400,000 people came to the New Orleans Jazz ...
Human resources goes global.(Inside SHRM)(Conference notes)
May 01, 2009; ... The 2009 Society for Human Resource Management Global Conference & Exposition, held in Toronto from March 30 to April 1, brought together HR professionals from nearly two dozen countries. Keynote speeches were as varied as the attendees. Worldwide Dominance Yale ...
Upcoming.(Calendar)
May 01, 2009 ... <Pre> May 11-16 UNC-Chapel Hill/SHRM Executive Program, Chapel Hill, N.C. 18-19 HR Metrics: Driving HR Success Through Analytics, Washington,D.C. 18-20 GPHR Certification ...
Business resources.(What's New)(web site launched)(Brief article)
May 01, 2009 ... Opinion Research Corp. has launched its Ouch Point web site. The site is designed to provide employers with a portal to information about past and current Opinion Research study findings and share suggestions for future surveys. The Ouch Point series examines Americans' ...
Health and safety.(What's New)
May 01, 2009 ... Employers looking for ways to improve the health of employees and their families can find tips in a toolkit on reducing tobacco use in the workplace. "Investing in a Tobacco-Free Future: How it Benefits Your Bottom Line & Community" was developed by the Partnership for Prevention and the ...
Outplacement.(What's New)
May 01, 2009 ... OptimalResume.com has launched a virtual outplacement tool for corporate HR functions. By using the web-based services, businesses can provide employees with 24-hour access to resources designed to help create resumes, write cover letters, build an electronic portfolio and provide ...
Performance management.(What's New)
May 01, 2009 ... Caliper Corp. has introduced Accelerator, a service for companies that want employees to perform at their peak whether they have just been hired or they have been placed into new positions after a reorganization or downsizing. Accelerator offers employers a guide to help employees ...
Staffing.(What's New)
May 01, 2009 ... Wanted Technologies Inc. has announced the launch of the Wanted Hiring Demand Indicators, a web-based service that offers researchers and analysts access to accurate and up-to-date hiring demand data. The data can provide employers an in-depth look at hiring trends for regions, industries ...