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News and Discussions on Payroll & Employment Law

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Five ways to keep your employees’ new year’s resolutions and productivity alive at work

2012 is gone, and 2013 is well underway. Many people have made commitments to themselves to make a change for the better in their professional lives. It’s a new year, so why not start fresh right? People often feel as though the New Year brings a renewed sense of commitment and productivity at work.

 

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Resolving to change: Fostering transformation at the organizational level

Welcoming a New Year can also mean welcoming change. Many individuals have resolved to make changes in their lives. Companies also often kick-off change initiatives or begin to implement talked about transformation in the New Year.

 

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Keeping your company’s newsletter out of the trashbin

Company and industry newsletters are a cost-effective and engaging promotional medium… if done right. Let’s face it, more often than not your company newsletter ends up in the spam folder. Why? Perhaps your publication doesn’t contain great content or maybe it is not being effectively distributed.

 

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We are not SHOUTING or SCREAMING! Font sizes and accessibility

Recently I sent an email in a medium-large font to someone who thought I was shouting. The reply I received was disturbing. The person was offended and read the information as if I was angry…

 

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Relying on breach of policy to discipline employees

When an employer seeks to rely on a breach of policy in disciplining an employee, the employer must prove that it clearly communicated the policy to the employee in question and has enforced the policy consistently. The importance of such communication in enforcement of workplace policies was demonstrated in Lambe v. Irving Oil Ltd.

 

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Social networking and Internet abuse in the workplace – Learn the latest

We’ve written plenty on First Reference Talks about the significant effects—both negative and positive—that online social networking can have on workplaces. Whether its Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, news or entertainment blogs or what-have-you, employees are using social media, and increasingly they’re doing it on your time. Employers should be aware of the potential value they can derive from social media, as well as the potential risks.

 

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Eight out of ten workers witnessed conflicts in the workplace, so what?

According to a recently released CROP survey carried out for the Ordre des conseillers en ressources humaines agréés (Quebec’s human resources professional association), 79 percent of workers in Quebec often or occasionally witnessed a conflict in their workplace in the last year. The survey also indicates that 62 percent of employees believe their managers are inclined to resolve conflicts, compared to 38 percent who feel they tend to ignore them.

 

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When employers are more progressive than employees

As if you didn’t have enough to worry about with the weak economy and trying to hold onto your job: more employers than ever in the United States are offering their employees the benefit of flex hours, but their employees are refusing to take advantage for fear they’ll get the axe! Recent research in the US by the Center for Work-Life Policy has found that fewer workers are accepting offers of flex-time—scheduling their own hours combined with working from home—because they feel the need to be present in the office to make sure their employers know they are working, even if the employees are in fact more productive working on their own schedules.

 

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Employer branding: a hot topic?

I recently read an interesting blog post on Brand For Talent. The author, Libby Sartain, says that organizations across the globe are struggling with their reputations as employers. Those employers need to engage their workers as fans, while reaching out for new workers as the economy begins its turnaround. She also asks: is there a difference between corporate branding and employer branding? Well, according to Sartain, there is. While companies such as Apple and Nike are able to rely on the power and strength of their corporate brand to attract talent, this is not the case for companies with less powerful brands.

 

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