More Employers Link Premiums to Wellness

More employers are following the lead of companies such as CVS Caremark, which recently made news by requiring its employees to receive health screenings that include measuring weight, cholesterol, blood sugar and blood pressure, or face a $50-per-month penalty on their health insurance premiums.

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Justices Urged to Limit Title VII Retaliation Actions

Does the ban on retaliation in Title VII of the Civil Rights Act require an employee to show "but-for" causation for an adverse employment action or require only proof that an improper motive was one of several reasons for an employer's retaliatory action? That was the central question in testimony heard last week by the U.S. Supreme Court.

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Social Networking Websites and Recruiting/Selection

A new SHRM survey finds a majority of organizations using social networking sites for recruiting, primarily as a way to attract passive job candidates. By contrast, only one-fifth of organizations use social networking websites or online search engines to screen job candidates.

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SHRM Nets Two Supreme Court Victories

On April 16, the U.S. Supreme Court issued decisions in two cases, Genesis HealthCare Corp. v. Symczyk and U.S. Airways, Inc. v. McCutchen. In both cases, the Court took the position SHRM advocated in its amicus briefs filed with the Court.

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SHRM-Supported Comp Time Bill Advances to the House Floor

Last week, the Committee on Education and the Workforce approved H.R. 1406, the Working Families Flexibility Act by a vote of 23-14, sending the measure to the full House of Representatives for consideration. SHRM supports this legislation to allow private-sector employers to give nonexempt employees the choice of paid time off in lieu of payments for any overtime hours worked.

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Senate Panel Considers Nominees to the EEOC, Awaits Action on DOL and NLRB Nominees Next

The U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee has spent much of April considering several of President Obama’s nominations for key labor and employment policy posts in the executive branch.

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SHRM Members Advocate in Their Respective State Capitols

Across the country earlier this month, various state affiliates of SHRM hosted “Hill Days” in their respective state capitols where HR practitioners conducted face-to-face meetings with state representatives and staff members. These efforts compliment the main thrust of SHRM’s national federal effort coined the “Advocacy Team” (or A-Team), to inform elected officials about the HR profession and how certain public-policy issues will impact the workplace in their states. SHRM understands how vital member participation is to advancing the views of the profession and applauds these state affiliates for seizing the opportunity to “put a face” behind HR and to let their voices be heard.

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When Work Works Update

When Work Works rolled into Louisiana last week providing workplace flexibility educational programming to over 130 SHRM members in the New Orleans area! Next up on the “Tour de Workflex” are stops in Maine, North Carolina and Montana.

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PBLS: Staffing Employment Steady in January Staffing Employment Up 5.1% From a Year Ago

Seasonally adjusted employment data released Friday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics indicates that staffing employment showed little change from December 2012 to January 2013 (-0.3%). In a year-to-year comparison, temporary help employment for the month was 5.1% higher than in January 2012. Over the previous 12 months, the temporary help industry has added an average of 10,400 per month to the economy.

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