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HR Management

9 ways to improve employee health, cut costs

03/01/2008

As medical care gets more expensive—and employees stay as unhealthy as ever—your organization probably is trying to cut costs wherever it can. One of the best ways: implement programs that prevent disease. Preventive services such as immunizations, preventive medications, screenings and counseling are effective at keeping employees healthier …

Relax, it’s just a couple of nuclear reactors

03/01/2008

Exelon Corp. has decided to replace its security provider, Wackenhut Corp., based in Palm Beach, with an in-house security force at its 10 nuclear power plants. Exelon made the decision after guards were videotaped sleeping on the job at a plant in Pennsylvania …

No need to accommodate Rx marijuana use

03/01/2008
The California Supreme Court has ruled that an employer doesn’t have to accommodate an employee’s marijuana use even though he had a valid prescription. Employers can and should continue to use post-offer, pre-employment drug tests if having a work force free of impairment is an important safety consideration …

Must you provide leave to domestic violence victims?

03/01/2008
In 1999, California and Maine became the first states to enact laws providing protection or leave to employees who are victims of domestic violence. Since then, nearly half of the states have enacted similar laws …

Former boxing commish alleges retaliation, says he was fired for speaking out

03/01/2008
Larry Hazzard Sr., former New Jersey Athletic Control Board commissioner, has filed a whistle-blower lawsuit against state Attorney General Anne Milgram. Hazzard says he was fired from his position on the board, which oversees boxing in Atlantic City, for reporting legal and safety-related violations …

Mystery neurological illness plagues slaughterhouse workers

03/01/2008
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has given a name to an illness suffered by employees in pork processing plants in Indiana and Minnesota: progressive inflammatory neuropathy …

Prison nurses say race, complaints led to firings

03/01/2008
Six black nurses have sued Nashville-based Corrections Corp. of America, which operates a prison annex for Marion County, alleging they were fired or forced to resign because of their race and because they complained about unsafe practices at the facility …

Make sure you fairly distribute dangerous assignments

03/01/2008
Are some assignments within your organization more dangerous than others?  Make sure you don’t dump those duties on members of a protected class. Instead, distribute those tasks evenly so no one can claim he or she was singled out for hazardous assignments because of race, national origin or some other protected characteristic …

Does more overtime equal less safety?

03/01/2008
Working excessive overtime increases an employee’s chances of suffering an on-the-job injury, according to a new Yale University study …

Dealing with employees who fear HIV

03/01/2008
Q. How should an employer deal with an employee who refuses to work around a co-worker or customer who is HIV-positive? …