Domestic Violence Comes to Work — and Can Cost Companies Millions
If you work with someone whom you suspect may be facing physical or emotional violence at home, step up and find a way to help them help themselves. It's not just a matter of compliance.
Steps to Creating a Healthy Work Environment
In today's business climate, employees are tasked with doing more with less. Many employees are working longer hours to cover heavier workloads and increased responsibility. Increased employee stress often accompanies increased pressures and demands on employees.
2012 London Games Spark UK Bribery Concerns
When nearly two million tourists and sports fans overtake London this summer for the Olympic Games, many of them will wine and dine at corporate hospitality suites. Some will even receive coveted tickets to sold-out events from vendors and business partners. The companies that provide all that hospitality must learn the ins and outs of the UK Bribery Act, which criminalizes gifts that are given with the intention of improperly influencing the recipient. If the British government determines that a company's Olympics hospitality package violated the Act, UK authorities can impose virtually unlimited fines and jail individual offenders for up to ten years.
Microsoft Supports Marriage Equality As "Good for Business"
In a January 19, 2012, post on the official Microsoft blog, the Redmond, Wash. software giant announced that it was supporting Washington state legislation that would legalize same-sex civil marriages.
Should Pregnancy Be Covered under the Americans with Disabilities Act?
There has been consistent buzz recently about the possibility of expanding the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) to include pregnancy.
Department of Labor Cracking Down on Violators of Breastfeeding Law
A March 2010 amendment to the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) requires employers to provide "reasonable break time" to employees who are nursing mothers for one year after the birth of their child, so that the mothers can pump breast milk during working hours. Employers also have to provide a place for the nursing mothers to express their milk that is "shielded from view and free from intrusion from coworkers and the public," and that place can't be a bathroom.
Study Shows Increase in Patient Healthcare Data Breaches
A 2011 study about patient privacy and data security in hospitals, doctors' offices and other healthcare organizations concluded that data breaches are on the rise in the healthcare industry. These organizations are subject to Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), which establishes rules that control how an organization may use private patient information and under what circumstances an organization may disclose that information to third parties.
Does Your Workplace Encourage Bullying?
Workplace bullying is the deliberate mistreatment of an employee by a supervisor or co-workers. Not only does it create a hellish situation for the targeted employee, it can hurt the morale of all workers and lead to lower productivity throughout the department. A workplace bully can undermine your company and rob you just as surely as if he had cracked the company safe.
EEOC to "Vigorously Pursue" Fight Against Discrimination
The number of older people in the workforce is going to continue to increase, according to projections by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The Bureau estimates that by 2018, there will be 43 percent more workers aged 55 and older than there were in 2008. The changing workforce makes it even more important for employers to take precautions against age discrimination.
Online Marketing Compliance: Rules of the Internet Highway
Tropicana is among the latest companies to face a lawsuit alleging deceptive advertising and violations of U.S. consumer-fraud laws. The lawsuit alleges that rather than being "100% pure and natural," as Tropicana claims, its orange juice is subject to extensive processing, including the addition of aromas and flavors – and that these claims, made on the company's website and juice cartons, are deceptive advertising.
