Workplace wellness programs are a great way for employers to improve their workers’ health habits. Employees like the rewards they receive and the feeling that they are partnering with their company toward a larger goal. And employers like the reduced sick-leave days and lower insurance costs that c...

Even if you’ve been a diligent member of the workforce for a while, you probably still have some room for improvement. One area you may be overlooking in your professional development could be one of the most important: improving your writing skills. Becoming a skilled writer is valuable in just ab...

Training techniques can impact many aspects of your company, such as employee retention, compliance with policies and procedures, and consistency of employee performance, just to name a few. How you communicate with your employees during training can make or break their experience with your company...

On June 27, a federal district court judge in Texas issued a nationwide preliminary injunction against the Labor Department’s controversial “persuader” rule that was scheduled to take effect July 1. This eleventh-hour stoppage was a major victory for the many states, business groups and employers th...

For employers, time is money. As a result, organizations need their employees to be as efficient and productive as possible. In their quest to increase productivity, many employers fall into the trap of pressuring their employees to work harder and faster. However, adding pressure to a workforce do...

Workplace conflict, although not uncommon can certainly raise tensions at the office, even if there are only a couple of people involved. Conflict can take on many forms and levels – from “Stop eating the snacks I leave in the fridge” to “Joe never does his part on team projects.” Ultimately, workpl...

Human resource management (HRM) has changed a lot in recent years. Human resource (HR) departments used to be their own separate entities from the corporations in which they existed, often with completely different goals. With focus on employee experience and company vision, the function of many hum...

The Labor Department’s new overtime rule—released in May and scheduled to take effect on Dec. 1—extends the Fair Labor Standards Act’s protections to most salaried workers who earn less than $47,476 a year ($913 a week). The move will expand FLSA coverage to an estimated 4.2 million workers who earn...

Employees feel better equipped on the job when they are confident that they can handle crises that arise in the workplace. When stressors in the workplace add up, they can easily burn out even the best of employees. Add that to the stresses that employees face outside of the workplace, and you may f...

Telehealth—an alternate means of providing medical services by phone or video consultations, email, remote passive monitoring services or the electronic transmittal of medical information—has been around for years, but it is fast becoming a medical service option provided by employers as an alternat...

Competition in the workplace is stiff. In order to get that promotion you are looking at (or sometimes, even just to survive employment cuts), you need to stand out from the crowd. Getting the job done and staying out of trouble really isn’t enough. Standing out and getting noticed are the keys to s...

Just last week, On May 18, 2016, Secretary Perez and President Obama announced that the Department of Labor finalized drastic changes to the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), which update overtime regulations. These new changes will go into effect on December 1, 2016, giving employers some time to up...

The federal hourly minimum wage has remained at $7.25 since 2009. For several years, the Obama administration has asked Congress to increase the federal minimum wage, to no avail. However, the federal minimum wage is just that: the least that employers must legally pay their employees. If a state w...

Internships are phenomenal opportunities for students to gain real-world insight into industry careers. Internships are coveted by employers due to minimizing financial expenses from wages and benefits while maximizing employee output. Internships are typically unpaid in terms of traditional reimbur...

As the Obama administration continues to push for federal paid family and sick leave requirements, it’s also prompting state and local governments to take matters into their own hands. On May 5, the Labor Department announced that it’s offering $1 million in federal grants to allow state, county or...

In every office, there are days when everything seems to be flowing smoothly. Productivity and attendance are up and everyone is working together like a well-oiled machine. For some offices, this is a rare occurrence, but it can be the norm with some time management and attendance guidelines for emp...

A growing trend across Fortune 500 companies is the move away from annual employee performance evaluations to more frequent, less formal reviews. Accenture, Deloitte and Microsoft are just a few examples of corporations that have completely changed how they conduct performance reviews. It’s estimat...

Productivity is about more than getting as many projects finished as possible. Productivity involves efficiency, quality, and completion. You might have a lot of work on your plate, and you continue to accept new assignments. After all, you are the best choice for the job. But you may start to notic...

As public interest in reducing the U.S. prison population and recidivism rate grows, employers are being pushed to remove the check box on employment applications that asks applicants if they have a criminal record. These “ban-the-box” laws are gaining traction at both the state and local levels. A...

While scrolling through Instagram, Twitter and other social media sites, it is easy to think that everyone around you has attained the elusive work-life balance. You see that crisp photograph of the immaculate living room, kids playing on the floor as the parents sit down with a cup of coffee. The...

"Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise" is a saying we’ve all heard a thousand times over the years. But as it turns out, Benjamin Franklin may have actually been on to something. It is likely that you very well know which side of sleeping schedules you fall o...

The risk of being audited. Every company has to deal with it, and smart organizations know how to take steps to diminish that risk. But even the best-prepared business leaders are wrong if they think that getting their tax practices in order will eliminate that risk entirely. That’s because audits a...

It’s no secret that mornings are more productive than afternoons. When employees begin their workdays feeling refreshed from a night’s sleep, they typically have better productivity than when they return to work after lunch. Follow these seven tips to help energize your afternoons so that productivi...

About 2.7 million U.S. workers receive pre-tax commuter benefits from their employers through an IRS Section 132 plan. At the federal level, legislation passed in late 2015 that established equal tax-free limits for transit passes, van-pool benefits and parking benefits, retroactive to January 1, 20...

The move to legalize or decriminalize marijuana use continues to gain traction state by state. For employers, it can seem disconcerting. What effect will all of this change have on the zero tolerance policies, drug-testing programs, and workplace safety strategies that are already established in the...