Adding staff? Decide before you hire whether you want an employee or an independent contractor. Under the FLSA and some states’ laws, you must pay overtime to nonexempt employees—not so for independent contractors. Make the employee-or-contractor call well before you bring someone on board. Don’t assume you can make the designation later.
Management Training
Management training isn’t just for newbies and novices – managers and supervisors of all levels and all ages need actionable management practices to bring to their department, division or company. Learn how to be the best boss you can be by expanding your management skills, managing change effectively and bring strong leadership into your everyday management practices.
One important way to judge your success as a manger is by the success of your employees. An effective manager isn’t just a boss who can extract the most productivity from his people, but the one who produces great future managers. How can you be sure that under your leadership managers will blossom?
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The Supreme Court on Jan. 24 ruled that the fiancé of a woman who filed an EEOC discrimination complaint was protected from retaliation by their mutual employer and can now sue for retaliation. The case has important implications for all employers: It's more important than ever to make sure your discipline policies pass the no-retaliation test.
Feel like your ideas are falling on deaf ears? Maybe it's your sales pitch, not the proposal. Focus your "pitch" with these tactics:
The EEOC has filed suit against Kaplan Higher Education Corp., alleging its use of credit histories to screen job applicants has a disparate impact on blacks. The credit histories aren’t necessary, the EEOC says, and don’t predict whether the applicant will perform the job well. Kaplan has defended the practice as a way to protect the company against potential fraud and theft.
When you talk with employees about their performance reviews, beware of using common phrases that can unintentionally communicate the wrong message, or come across as too negative or personal. Certain phrases can kill employee morale, weaken productivity or open up the organization to a discrimination lawsuit. Avoid the following phrases...
The Pregnancy Discrimination Act protects women against discrimination because they’re about to have a baby. But the PDA doesn’t grant any special, additional rights to time off for child care. Unless the mother has FMLA or other leave available, there’s no requirement for an employer to accommodate her child care needs.
Now that the worst of the economic crisis seems to have passed, Berlin, Germany-based electronics and powerhouse Siemens in December said thanks to its employees worldwide with “special payment” bonuses totaling $430 million. Nonmanagement employees in the United States received almost $100 million.
Think of a résumé as the advertisement for a car. Something is being sold, and you need to adopt a “buyer beware” attitude before you drive away. Follow these tips to smoke out lies in an applicant's résumé:
Question: Whenever our boss is upset, he calls a group meeting and administers a general scolding. Since he is never specific, we are all left wondering who screwed up. To me, this approach seems immature and unproductive. If I make a mistake, I would rather be chewed out privately, not included in a public lecture that makes everyone feel bad. Our manager’s collective reprimands have sunk morale into a black hole. Any suggestions for dealing with this? - Blamed for Nothing
Retail managers are generally responsible for everything that happens in their stores. But they often spend most of their time doing the same work that hourly employees do. Even so, they may qualify as exempt employees under the FLSA. It’s the quality of the management work they do that counts, not the number of hours they spend doing it.
