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Training

Video résumés: Set a policy and plan for the legal risks

03/01/2007

It’s not every day that you’ll receive a video résumé—especially one like Yale student Aleksey Vayner famously sent to big New York financial services firms showing him pumping iron, ballroom dancing and boasting about his smarts. But you’ll likely start receiving video résumés soon enough …

‘Hello, Liability?’ The new trend of telephone testing

03/01/2007

Why does “testing” bring about that sledgehammer-in-the-stomach feeling? Maybe because, as students, we never knew quite what to expect. Now, the same is true when it comes to a recent trend in employment-law cases: applicants and employees making phone calls to secretly test whether your organization is discriminating …

Employees injured during horseplay at work may be entitled to workers’ comp benefits

03/01/2007

Florida employers ordinarily don’t have to pay workers’ compensation benefits for employees who are hurt while engaging in horseplay. But that provision doesn’t provide much protection when workers’ comp judges split hairs over what’s technically off-duty horseplay and what’s just a momentary deviation from job duties …

KKK videos and swastikas cause AK Steel Corp. to lose bias suit

03/01/2007

AK Steel Corp. will pay $600,000 to seven black employees and an employee’s estate to settle a hostile environment case at its Butler facility …

NYC firefighters’ burning issue: Is a Locker ‘Private Space’?

03/01/2007

Responding to complaints about pornographic and hostile messages displayed on firefighters’ lockers, the New York City Fire Department (FDNY) asked superior officers to oversee the removal of all offensive materials …

Skater’s harassment suit puts the Garden on thin ice

03/01/2007

Ex-Rangers City skater Courtney Prince has produced a paper trail to support her sexual harassment suit against Madison Square Garden. She introduced memos showing the Garden staff was digging up dirt on her before she filed suit …

AIDS Programs

02/17/2007

HR Law 101: As AIDS continues to affect all segments of the population, the workplace is feeling the consequences. Employers are now compelled to confront issues related to AIDS, such as employees’ fear of the disease, company policy decisions and benefit programs …

10 ways to squeeze more value from your EAP

02/01/2007

Is your organization reaping the full financial benefits from its employee assistance program (EAP)? If employees aren’t using it, the answer is probably “no” …

15-min. workout (In work clothes) cuts excuses to skip exercise

02/01/2007

The 280 employees at Boland, Inc., a Rockville, Md., air conditioning company, have run out of excuses to do at least a minimum amount of exercise each day. Reason: Two years ago, the company adopted Rick’s Quick Fit, a 15-minute workout that employees can do in their work clothes …

Prevent bias against men who take FMLA leave

02/01/2007

Would your hiring managers react negatively to male employees or applicants just because they took FMLA leave to care for a newborn or a sick family member? …