A few weeks, ago I was speaking about social media and the workplace to a fabulous audience at the 2014 SHRM Annual Conference and Expo. (Email me if you want a copy of my slidedeck). One of my session themes was that there is no such thing as employees using…
The Employer Handbook Blog
The importance of communication during FMLA leave
How many times has an employee provided you with an incomplete Family and Medical Leave Act certification? Oh, I don’t know, maybe a missing return date… If the FMLA leave is foreseeable, then the employee must provide the employer with the anticipated timing and duration of the leave. However, where…
Dating app maker Tinder sued for, you guessed it, sexual harassment
I’m often asked, “Eric, where do you find this stuff?” Why TMZ, of course. Break ’em off TMZ: “Whitney Wolfe claims in a new lawsuit — obtained by TMZ — she was mercilessly brutalized by the other execs who wanted to remove her title because no one would take a…
3 ways the #HobbyLobby decision affects your workplace
Mid-morning yesterday, the Internet broke shortly after the Supreme Court issued its 5-4 decision in HHS v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc.. Jeez, I’m still cleaning out my Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook feeds. In case your wifi, 4G, 3G, dial-up, TV, radio, and other electronics picked the wrong day to quit…
Black man claims a paint company’s paint is racist and he was fired for complaining
The Benjamin Moore color gallery contains, among others, Clinton Brown and Tucker Chocolate. My virgin ears! I mean, how racist can you get?!? Or, so says Clinton Tucker, a former Benjamin Moore employee, who filed a complaint in New Jersey state court in which he alleges that these paint names…
Supreme Court: President Obama botched those NLRB recess appointments
In a unanimous opinion delivered yesterday (here) in NLRB v. Noel Canning, the Supreme Court concluded that President Obama’s so-called “recess appointments” of three of the five members of the National Labor Relations Board between the Senate’s January 3 and January 6 pro forma sessions were unconstitutional. Amy Howe from…
Score? US Men’s Soccer’s permission slip so your employees can miss work today
I remember a high school classmate of mine who had his mom send in a permission slip to excuse him from missing school for the Philadelphia Phillies’ home opener. Mom’s note indicated that her son was suffering from “Vernal Flu.” Get it? Vernal Flu = Spring Fever. Pretty creative, huh?…
#SHRM14 updates from the best of the bloggerati
Sorry for the late past today, gang. I had planned on putting something together last night, but, two words: sushi coma. So, here for your enjoyment, whether you’re attending the 2014 SHRM Annual Conference and Expo this year, like I am, or whether you’ve been following along online, is a…
Nooses, n-words, and confederate flags, but no discrimination #shrm14
Over the weekend, I read this opinion in a race-discrimination with facts so egregious, they’d make David Duke blush. Let me set the scene for you. This is a workplace where, allegedly, several of the white employees displayed Confederate flag paraphernalia. I’ll spare you a verbatim review of the…
What HR should know about same-sex marriage and the FMLA #SHRM14
Folks, I get the feeling you may be inundated with extra blog posts over the next few days. That is, I’m punching this post out from the airport, as I await my flight to Orlando, where I’ll be attending the Gathering of the Juggalos 2014 SHRM Annual Conference and Expo.…