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Byline: Katie Loehrke An employee who was fired after requesting lactation accommodation breaks sued her employer, but lost her claim. However, companies should be wary of following in this employer's [...]

Byline: Katie Loehrke A former assistant to Lady Gaga recently filed a lawsuit against the pop superstar's touring company, alleging violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act. At the forefront [...]

Byline: Katie Loehrke The National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) allows employers to prohibit solicitation by employees during work time. However, generally speaking, employers may not prohibit employees from soliciting during [...]

Byline: Katie Loehrke Even within the strongest work teams, interpersonal conflict will likely rear its ugly head at some time or another. Though employers (or organizational managers and supervisors) might [...]

Byline: Katie Loehrke The American workplace has changed over the years: Women have steadily joined the workforce, and the average number of hours an American works each week has crept [...]

Byline: Katie Loehrke At age 18, Dallas Seavey was the youngest musher to finish what has been called the last great race on earth --- the 1,049-mile Iditarod Trail Sled [...]

Byline: Katie Loehrke It is well known that employers may not discriminate based on personal characteristics, such as race, ethnicity and national origin. It's also well known that a diverse [...]

Byline: Katie Loehrke Employers use employee photographs for a number of reasons. The most common use may be for individual employee identification, which may double as a company security card [...]

Byline: Katie Loehrke Most company leaders know firsthand the difficulty that comes with trying to please an entire employee population. Not every decision a business makes is going to go [...]

Byline: Katie Loehrke Pregnant employees are protected by the Pregnancy Discrimination Act, which forbids pregnancy-related harassment and discrimination in any term or condition of employment. Covered employers (those with 15 [...]

Byline: Katie Loehrke Hurricane-turned-Superstorm Sandy took its toll on businesses along the East Coast. Rain and high winds forced companies to close their offices and stores, and prevented employees from [...]

Byline: Katie Loehrke Faced with rising health care costs, many employers routinely consider much more than applicants' education and work history when hiring. In some states, for example, employers may [...]

Byline: Katie Loehrke Only a few state laws currently address the intersection of technology and employee privacy. In the absence of such guidance, employers are left to consult case law, [...]

Byline: Katie Loehrke More than 1 million Americans a year work as interns. Some of these work opportunities occur solely during the summer months; others are more open-ended in terms [...]

When it comes to recent activity from the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), one of the following must be true: 1. You are aware that employees engaging in behavior that [...]

When it comes to how to treat employees, most employers go through two main steps: considering what the company can do, and subsequently, what it should do. For most companies, [...]

The views expressed in this article are those of the editor and do not necessarily reflect the views of J. J. Keller & Associates, Inc. A company in Japan recently [...]

The views expressed in this article are those of the editor, and do not necessarily reflect the views of J. J. Keller & Associates, Inc.[R] The news is in--except it [...]

In a perfect workplace, employees are polite and considerate. In a perfect workplace, employees respect and even appreciate one another's differences and opinions. In a perfect workplace, HR personnel are [...]

Wouldn't it be great if liars' pants really did light on fire? Well, no, not really, unless you're ready for a raging office fire starting at just about everyone's ankles. [...]

Unless you live under a rock, you've likely heard of J.K. Rowling, the author of the wildly successful Harry Potter series. One author you may not have heard of is [...]

English is a complicated language with complicated rules. Grammar can be equally complex, and as a result, there are many 'rules' forbidding people from using language in a certain way. [...]

The views expressed in this article are those of the editor, and do not necessarily reflect the views of J. J. Keller & Associates, Inc.[R] A few years ago, a [...]

You meet a friend for lunch; she's burned out at work. Your waitress has twice as many tables as she's accustomed to due to cuts in staffing. Your spouse comes [...]

Corporate recruiters all over the country make it their business to identify and hire the very best talent. After hire, employees who just 'meet expectations' from one review period to [...]

If there's one thing I've learned about the world of human resources, it's that there are few absolutes, and, to borrow the mantra of one of my colleagues, 'much will [...]

While folding laundry the other day, I noticed that the clasp on a pair of pants was printed with two words: 'fine clothing.' However, immediately adjacent to said clasp, I [...]

The views expressed in this article are those of the editor, and do not necessarily reflect the views of J. J. Keller & Associates, Inc.[R] A former assistant to Lady [...]

In early February, the United States Postal Service (USPS) announced part of its long-term strategy to reduce costs: stopping first-class mail delivery on Saturdays. After a loss of about $16 [...]

Despite a recent Department of Labor (DOL) survey indicating that misuse of leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act is rare (see p. 2 for full details), examples of [...]

Employment at will is the law of the land in every state except Montana. Simply put, it means that an employer or employee may end the employment relationship at any [...]

Most HR professionals know firsthand the difficulty that comes with trying to please an entire employee population. Not every decision a company makes is going to go over well with [...]

I have a problem with library books. I love to read, but I don't always make the time. Borrowed books sit on my coffee table as the days tick by, [...]

Jacqueline Berrien, head of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), recently found herself defending the actions of the agency in a complaint alleging violations of the Rehabilitation Act (the equivalent [...]

If you've been in HR long, you've probably heard that consistency is key. Following your policies to the letter is a great way to keep your company out of legal [...]

Awhile back, I wrote about how being nice can go a long way for employers, and when they're not nice, they may get what they deserve. In one of the [...]

The seven deadly sins are well known and culturally scorned. Regardless of one's religion, most would agree that lust, gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath, envy, and pride can be seriously destructive [...]

Recently, I saw a commercial for ice cream bars--amazing ice cream bars, according to the commercial, given the treat's apparent ability to make people do foolish things. Must. Have. Ice [...]

Taiichi Ohno, the father of the Toyota Production System (also known as lean manufacturing), knew the value of asking 'why?' Within the lean methodology, asking why is done not once, [...]

Before 14 workers were fired in April from a Florida law firm for wearing orange shirts to work, several of them told management that no harm was meant. They explained [...]

A friend of mine recently received a small toy bat with her favorite baseball team's logo emblazoned on it as a gift. After she proudly displayed the bat in her [...]

Applying the laws of physics to employee relations might seem a bit unusual, but if you're a science geek (or even if you're not), you can't help but see the [...]

For as long as I can remember, my mom has bought a lottery ticket almost every week. For one dollar, she purchases a one-in-a-gazillion chance of becoming a millionaire. If [...]

At one time or another, you've probably heard the phrase 'go with the flow' used to encourage someone to stay calm, not to make waves, or to accept certain circumstances [...]

I consider myself lucky to write for a living, so it should come as no surprise that I both respect and love language. I do realize, however, that not everyone [...]

Not all employment law is intuitive, so I do feel for the well-meaning employer that inadvertently breaks a law. I like to think that the majority of rule-breakers are goodhearted, [...]

For years, media outlets have reported that students in higher education have gradually received higher and higher grades for the same level of work. Research gathered from more than 200 [...]

I have a tendency to get frustrated on the occasions when other people display what appears to be a lack of common sense. But there's one thing I find even [...]