Category: HR Management & Compliance

There are dozens of details to take care of in the day-to-day operation of your department and your company. We give you case studies, news updates, best practices and training tips that keep your organization fully in compliance with ever-changing employment law, and you fully aware of emerging HR trends.

A HIPAA Audit Might Come Knocking Soon

As a part of its continued efforts to assess compliance with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Privacy, Security, and Breach Notification Rules, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) has begun a round of audits of covered entities and their business associates.

DOL’s Final Overtime Rules Coming Any Day Now

By BLR Legal Editor Susan Prince, JD Employers, get ready for a busy summer! Just when you are about to embark on your summer getaways, dreaming of sun and relaxation … you are probably going to have 60 days to make sure you are in compliance with the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) changes. Well, […]

Ask the Expert: Should Employee Be Paid for Enrolling in Benefits?

One of my clients has an employee who is requesting compensation for time spent enrolling in benefits using his/her personal time. The employees have limited access to computers since they work in a production area. The employer will have a computer set up for employees to use during the week of open enrollment. However, employees […]

Overtime Exemption: It’s What You Do, Not What They Call You

By Steve Jones, JD, Jack Nelson Jones & Bryant, P.A The U.S. 8th Circuit Court of Appeals—which covers Arkansas, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota—recently reversed a district court’s decision that an employee wasn’t exempt from overtime pay under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) because her primary duties weren’t related to […]

New rule extends employment term for international STEM students

by Elaine Young The rules affecting how long international students in certain fields can work in the United States without changing their visa status will change on May 10. Currently, when international students in F-1 visa status graduate with a bachelor’s, master’s, or doctorate from a U.S. school, they can work for one year, in […]

You’re Doing It Wrong: The Proper Way to Approach Creative Thinking

Fifty years ago, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) asked George Land, PhD, to develop a creativity assessment aimed at helping the space agency identify and hire the most creative engineers and scientists. The test proved successful for NASA, and in 1968, Land decided to use his assessment to test the creativity of 1,600 […]

Accommodating Pregnant Employees

By BLR Senior Legal Editor Susan Schoenfeld, JD The challenge of how and when to accommodate pregnant employees has moved to the forefront as a result of recent changes to the law and recent guidance coming from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).