From the Editor
Staying Current in HR survey
How do you stay current in your profession? What's on your recommended reading list? Which HR websites do you visit most often? How does your training budget compare with other HR professionals?
Here’s your chance to find out. Take the Staying Current in HR 2007 survey. We’ll report the results in the Sept. 21 issue of HR Hero Line and you can see what HR professionals say is hot and what’s not in keeping up to date with employment law.
To take the survey, go to www.hrhero.com/survey/survey.cgi?staycurrent. The polls close on Thursday, Sept. 20.
Wendi Watts
Web Editor
HR Hero Line
Webeditor@hrhero.com
Feature
Lifeguard on duty:
Congress patrols the gene pool
Excerpted from Arizona Employment Law Letter and written by attorneys at the law firm of Ford & Harrison LLP
by Kylie B. Crawford
As medical technology advances, scientists and medical professionals are better able to understand the genetic compositions that contribute to various diseases and predispose those with a certain genetic makeup to those diseases.
These advances are having some very positive effects, allowing patients to take a preventive approach to medical care and medical professionals to predict and screen against various problems.
According to some, however, the advances are also creating some negative effects.
Employers are increasingly basing their hiring and firing decisions on the results of genetic tests that disclose which employees are at a higher risk of having medical problems down the road. Additionally, insurers are using the results of genetic testing to deny insurance coverage and raise premium rates.
In response to those concerns, the Senate has twice passed bills prohibiting discrimination by insurers and employers. Until this year, there wasn't much action in the House of Representatives regarding genetic discrimination. On April 25, however, it passed the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2007, H.R. 493, by a sweeping vote of 420-3.
The bill requires confidentiality of genetic information and prohibits genetic discrimination by insurance providers and employers. Currently, a hold has been put on the bill in the Senate. We will discuss how that affects you.
Read on
This Week on HRhero.com
HR Q&A
Know when workers need to be WARNed
Excerpted from Arkansas Employment Law Letter and written by attorneys at the law firm of Jack Nelson Jones Fink Jiles & Gregory, P.A.
Q: I'm in charge of a factory that has been around for more than 20 years. Business has been declining for the last six months, and I'm afraid that we're going to have to lay off some of our employees. What must I do before announcing the layoffs?
Read on
Did You Know...
Due to new EEO-1 reporting requirements, employers must provide even more detailed information by September 30, 2007. The deadline is closing fast. Are you ready?
Learn how to accurately complete and submit your reports in time for the deadline by participating in the HR Hero audio conference, EEO-1 Reporting Deadline Looms: New Rules for HR. In just 90 minutes we'll cover all the new job classifications, changes to ethnic and racial categories, recommendations on how to handle OFCCP recordkeeping, and communication tips for requesting this sensitive information from employees.
Read on for more information...
Employers Forum
We have an employee who turned in his 2 weeks notice and he has been central to our electronic business, hardware, software, email, etc. Does anyone have a process, procedure or form that they would be willing to share showing how they deal with a terminating IT personnel?
Della, KS
Visit Employers Forum to join other discussions or post a question of your own.
How do I join Employers Forum discussions?
HRhero.com Subscribers Area Resources
Get specific ... state-specific, that is. About 75% of HR Hero Line subscribers also subscribe to our state-specific Employment Law Letters. Sign up for your state's Employment Law Letter to get monthly, state-specific updates and access to the HRhero.com Subscribers Area.
Employers in the Courtroom
Employees can't waive FMLA rights
Excerpted from South Carolina Employment Law Letter and written by attorneys at the law firm of McNair Law Firm, P.A.
by Rita M. McKinney
Once again, the Fourth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which covers South Carolina, has made it clear that employees can't waive, nor may employers induce them to waive, their Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) rights.
Read on (Subscribers only)
Tool: HR Executive Special Reports
HRhero.com offers 26 in-depth special reports on topics lik
e "How to Manage & Minimize Absenteeism," "How to Make Telecommuting Work for Your Company," "How to Discipline and Document Employee Behavior," and more.
Anyone may purchase these reports on HRhero.com for $97 each. But you get all of them, a $2,522 value, for free! Why? Because you're a subscriber to your state's Employment Law Letter. You also have access to the three new reports we put out each year. Cool, huh?
Log into the Subscribers Area to access the HR Executive Special Reports library. The reports are in the Special Reports box in the right column.