HR idiot

Where’s the Vicks VapoRub?

hridiot — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 17:01:50 +0000

If you’re anything like me, winter is just one continuous cold. In college, if I didn’t feel 100%, I didn’t go to class. However, the working world, or as my parents referred to it, the “real world,” doesn’t work that way. So when it comes to the law, what meets the standards of a “serious health condition”? Well according to the FMLA, the definition of a “serious health condition” is as follows:

an illness, injury, impairment, or physical or mental condition that involves either inpatient care (i.e., an overnight stay in a hospital, hospice, or residential care facility)

continuing treatment by a healthcare provider.

What they’re saying is, my faucet-like runny nose does not count. Looks like I either have to come up with a better excuse, or suck it up and start going to work.

Click here to read more about what employers can do with colds, the flu, and FMLA

1099 1099 hut hut!

hridiot — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 16:50:41 +0000

In this case, the 1099 is for reporting payments to independent contractors and not signals from the quarterback, unless perhaps your QB is QuickBooks.

For tax year 2011, payments other than cash (goodness, now why would anyone pay an independent contractor in cash?), check, direct deposits or electronic funds transfers to independent don’t have to be reported. So that leaves payments with a credit card, debit card or PayPal (or equivalent). All of this mean more time and less paperwork for you – touchdown!

QuickBooks has more here.

Discount double-check – your 2012 HR game plan

hridiot — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 21:36:58 +0000

In hindsight, we are guessing that if Aaron Rogers and the Green Bay Packers had a chance to have someone double-check their year-end game plan, they might have included “Fewer State Farm commercials, more completed passes.”

Granted, you aren’t staring at the New York Giant defense. You do, however, get a discount (free) when you attend a webinar (free) hosted by the folks at emTRAIN to discuss:

wage/hour issues
increased scrutiny and fines for independent contractor misclassification
limitations on employer background checks
common recruiting mistakes
the most common employment law mistakes.

Mark your calendar for January 25 at 2:00 EST and go here to register.

So what is with Rogers’ touchdown dance - is he putting on a fanny pack? unbuckling his seat belt?

GIVING FEEDBACK PEOPLE CAN HEAR!!!!

hridiot — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 20:40:10 +0000

feed·back [feed-bak] noun:

the process of returning part of the output of a circuit, system, or device to the input, either to oppose the input (negative feedback) or to aid the input (positive feedback).

Most likely the only feedback you get in the workplace is in opposition to your input (negative feedback), even if in the form of “constructive” feedback (is it ever really constructive or does calling it that just help the person giving it feel better?). So how about providing “deconstructive feedback”?

“Deconstructive” feedback is about approaching any conversation regarding someone’s performance from a place of humility, never assuming that you’re right.

Here are three tips for giving feedback people can hear:

When you start to feel defensive, annoyed, or anxious, apply “The Golden Rule of Triggers”: whatever you feel compelled to do, don’t. Instead, take a deep breath and feel your feet. Then you can make a choice about how to respond.
Concentrating on a positive outcome rather than avoiding a negative one leads to greater persistence, flexibility, creativity, motivation, and satisfaction. In short, expecting success makes us more likely to succeed.
When you feel the need to criticize “constructively”, don’t assume that you’re right. Be curious and open-ended rather than making declarations and coming to conclusions.

Interested in more? Check out The Energy Project.

(And not one reference to the King of Feedback, Ji……….)

Supremes Court – Religion Ministers aren’t employees – sort of

hridiot — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 17:23:12 +0000

A lot of you are churches and/or schools with church affiliations, and this was a unanimous decision, so listen up. Those of you who are neither a church or a church-affiliated school, please refer to the previous article and work on your Spinal Tap assignment.

The Supreme Court ruled that a minister can not sue their religious employer for employment discrimination. Although the Supreme Court did not provide a formula or standard to use when determining if someone qualifies as a minister, it did determine that in this specific case, a teacher was considered a minister and therefore could not sue the church. Confused? I was too, so I clicked here and read the entire article by our partners at Fisher & Phillips.

Spinal Tap’s Top E11even . . . . . . reasons large companies fail to keep their best talent

hridiot — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 17:15:36 +0000

Forbes – via LinkedIn – provides the first 10 for this list. I don’t understand why they felt that these reasons apply only to large companies, so I cleverly crossed out large - kind of like the amp that goes to 11. Kind of.

Here’s a sampling of why the best talent leaves:

bureaucracy
lack of accountability (seriously, this makes sense, but you need to read the article)
top talent wants to be around top talent.

See the rest of the top 10 by clicking here.

And you get a chance to provide number eleven. Give us your best Spinal Tap-inspired reason why your top talent leaves by commenting on this post, tweeting us at HRidiot, or just email us.

30% of you won’t be around on Monday

hridiot — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 16:39:27 +0000

Around the office anyway. According to a Bloomberg BNA survey of holiday practices, slightly more than three in ten of you will give all or most of your employees a paid day off in observance of Martin Luther King Day. The larger you are, the more likely you will grant the holiday. Same for those of you with unions. So if you want to increase your chances of getting paid to stay home January 21, 2013, either grow like crazy or unionize.

Did the minimum wage go up in your state?

hridiot — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 23:24:31 +0000

As of January 1, 2012, eight states raised the minimum wage for workers – all eight have laws that increase the minimum wage at a rate tied to inflation. Click on your state to access the updated required posting.

Arizona - $7.65 per hour

Colorado - $7.64 per hour

Florida - $7.67 per hour

Montana - $7.65 per hour

Ohio - $7.70 per hour

Oregon - $8.80 per hour

Vermont - $8.46 per hour

Washington - $9.04 per hour (Washington no longer requires a minimum wage poster, but does still require the “Your Rights as a Worker” poster)

The federal minimum wage has not changed and remains at $7.25 per hour. Remember that if the state minimum wage is above the federal rate, you must pay workers the higher rate. A complete list of minimum wage rates for all states can be found at the U.S. Department of Labor.

Spinal Tap’s Top E11even . . . reasons large companies fail to keep their best talent

hridiot — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 20:12:27 +0000

Forbes – via LinkedIn – provides the first 10 for this list. I don’t understand why they felt that these reasons apply only to ~~large~~ companies, so I cleverly crossed out large – kind of like the amp that goes to 11. Kind of. Here’s a sampling of why the best talent leaves:

bureaucracy
lack of accountability (seriously, this makes sense, but you need to read the article)
top talent wants to be around top talent.

See the rest of the top 10 by clicking here. And you get a chance to provide number eleven. Comment on this post and give us your best Spinal Tap-inspired reason why your top talent leaves, or just email us.

“How would you get an elephant in a refrigerator?” . . . and other crucial interview questions

hridiot — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 00:23:33 +0000

Need a new change of pace question for your hiring interviews? Here are Glassdoor’s top 25 oddball interview questions of 2011.