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HR Management

Workers posting great reviews of products online? Make sure they identify themselves as employees

09/24/2010
Be careful if your employees are spreading the word online about your company’s products and services. Last year, the FTC issued new Enforcement Guidelines that require employees to disclose their relationships with their employer whenever they post comments or positive reviews about their employer’s product on a social media site.

SeaWorld fined $75,000 in orca trainer’s death

09/23/2010
OSHA has cited SeaWorld Orlando for three safety violations following the death of marine mammal trainer Dawn Brancheau earlier this year.

In-house university helps tax pros keep current

09/23/2010
It’s not easy keeping up with the ever-changing U.S. tax code. So TaxMasters, a “tax relief” firm that represents taxpayers who have problems with the IRS, started its own university to help employees stay on top of it. Training focuses on improving customer service, process efficiency and professional development—as well as on the complexities of the tax code and the IRS.

Revised heat-illness rules may increase your responsibilities

09/22/2010

If your employees work outdoors or in other hot environments, get ready for tougher rules governing the measures you must take to prevent heat-related illness and injury. The California Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board has unanimously voted to revise California’s already stringent heat-illness prevention regulations, formalizing temporary, emergency rules that have been in place since 2005.

Loose lips lead to lawsuits: Consult lawyer before releasing personal info

09/22/2010
Privacy laws are confusing. If you are unsure about whether you can release any employee information, check with your attorney. That may help you avoid the kind of drawn-out litigation one employer recently endured.

OSHA takes aim at Miami shooting range’s lead hazards

09/21/2010

OSHA has cited Miami shooting range E.N. Range for willfully exposing its employees to lead contamination. The potential fines total more than $2 million. The shooting range pays workers to clean expended bullets off the range. OSHA alleged the company provided insufficient protection against lead poisoning for those workers.

When petty office squabbles boil over, take solace in one thing: It’s probably not a federal case

09/21/2010
No workplaces are perfect. Co-workers, supervisors and subordinates don’t always have others’ best interests at heart. When it comes to interoffice feuds, employees won’t find much help in federal anti-discrimination laws. Those laws don’t guarantee a workplace free of friction and ambition—just one that’s free of illegal bias.

Workers trained to clean up Gulf oil spill cry foul

09/21/2010
When the Deepwater Horizon oil spill disaster began, hundreds of Panhandle workers signed up to receive training on how to safely clean up the mess. Now that they have completed the program, some are complaining that they can’t start working because their employers are withholding the certificates. OSHA is looking into the complaints …

Alert: Key EEOC reporting deadline is next Thursday

09/21/2010

Most large employers (and federal contractors) have just a few days to submit key employee demographic data to the EEOC. The deadline for filing EEO-1 reports is next Thursday, Sept. 30. Find links to the EEOC’s online reporting system and an explanation of what you need to report.

Address trust, training to keep top performers

09/17/2010

Employees feel overworked and underpromoted, and two in five of them are looking for new jobs. A new study is the latest to reveal that employees who plan to leave their companies say they feel a lack of communication from management. Here are four things your employees might think they’ll find more of elsewhere: