by Dinita L. James
Reports out of the nation’s capital indicate the time finally may be right for comprehensive immigration reform. The word “comprehensive” encompasses a lot of issues, including border security and what some call a “pathway to citizenship” and others call “amnesty.”
Everyone describing the scope of comprehensive immigration reform seems to include in their [...]

by Al Vreeland
In these pages, we try―often ham-handedly―to infuse a little humor into the very real workplace dilemmas you face on a daily basis. When we first conceived this article, obvious redneck gun jokes were, well, obvious. But the recent massacre in Newtown, Connecticut, has left us humorless, while recent events in several state capitals [...]

by Joseph Godwin
Happy New Year! I hope the holiday season was a joy-filled one with plenty of time to spend with family and friends ― the most important people in our lives.
Now it’s January and time for making ― and implementing ― those dreaded annual “resolutions.” The economy, while slowly improving, remains weak [...]

by Boyd Byers
My 15-year-old daughter is an avid reader. She also has an offbeat sense of humor (which she must get from her mother). So perhaps I shouldn’t have been surprised to find a book titled Zombies vs. Unicorns lying around the house. “It’s a question as old as time itself: Which is better, the [...]

It’s almost an understatement to call misclassification of employees as independent contractors a hot topic. It’s certainly the subject of a growing list of court cases, government agency investigations, and legislative initiatives.
Various agencies at both the state and federal level have been in crackdown mode for a few years now, and it’s no wonder: Misclassification [...]

The old saying goes that the devil is in the details. When considering the doctrine of at-will employment, it may be more correct to say the answers are in the details. But, that doesn’t mean some of those details aren’t a bit devilish to decipher.
HR professionals often struggle with termination decisions. The decision is easy [...]

By Reggie Gay

Employers that need workers often find themselves inundated with applicants — especially in today’s down economy. Some employers have even resorted to limiting the applicant pool to currently employed individuals as a way of dealing with a deluge of resumes. But that can be a legally shaky strategy.

by Jim Brown and Marc Koonin
Companies with employees working in California must always remain mindful of the state’s protectionist wage and hour laws. You must always comply with federal standards and all California laws that provide greater protections for employees than the federal requirements. Failure to do so might be an unwelcome invitation to a [...]

A federal judge blocked parts of Arizona’s new immigration law on Wednesday, the day before the rest of the measure went into effect. But legal challenges are already flying and many are waiting to see what happens next.
Last year, a record number of immigration-related laws were considered and passed in the 50 states. Over 222 [...]

In today’s world of corporate belt-tightening and budget cutbacks, you might find yourself wondering whether the expense of an HR staff is actually justified by the benefits. After all, HR doesn’t create revenue for the company — it doesn’t operate the machinery that produces the widgets, and it doesn’t drive sales.
In fact, the perception might [...]