Blog Posts: Taking Care of HR Business
Visit the Full BlogHuman resource professionals, supervisors, and company executives alike face a constantly changing and evolving legal landscape. Verrill's Taking Care of HR Business blog is here to keep you up to date on the newest and most important legal developments for employers.
OSHA Publishes Return-to-Work Guidance; Reminder to be Mindful of Employee Medical Record Retention
OSHA has published Guidance on Returning to Work to assist employers in understanding their obligations under OSHA as they continue the process of re-opening and returning employees to work. Employers should review this document in conjunction with state and local regulations concerning re-opening, as well as the CDC Guidance...
This Week's Show: Become - The 5 Commitments of Purposeful Leadership
On Saturday, June 20, David Ciullo, co-host of HR Power Hour, interviewed Mark Hannum, Chief Research Officer of Linkage, Inc. and Author of Become: The 5 Commitments of Purposeful Leadership , for this segment of HR Power Hour. For this episode, David and Mark discuss his book on successful...
Support for the Black Lives Matter Movement: Implicit Bias Training (Part 4 of 12)
This is the fourth post in a 12-part series on how companies can show support for the black lives matter (BLM) movement by changing company policies and practices. This post focuses on implicit bias and the effect it has on the work environment and choices that leaders can make...
This Week's Show: Mass Biotech Boom
On Saturday, June 6, David Ciullo, co-host of HR Power Hour, interviewed Kevin O'Brien, CFP, Founder and President of Peak Financial Services and Author of Massachusetts Biotech Boom, for this segment of HR Power Hour. For this episode, David and Kevin discuss his new book, Massachusetts Biotech Boom, about...
This Week's Show: Overcoming Intercultural Issues in the Workplace
On Saturday, May 16, Tawny interviewed Liz Greason, Co-Owner of Maine Intercultural Communication Consultants, LLC, for this segment of HR Power Hour. For this episode, Liz and Tawny discuss overcoming intercultural issues in the workplace. She lived in the Middle East for many years, where she taught students from...
This Week's Show: Trusting Technology
On Saturday, May 23, David Ciullo, co-host of HR Power Hour, interviewed Graham Binks, Author of Trusting Technology, for this segment of HR Power Hour. For this episode, David and Graham discuss his book, Trusting Technology, about adjusting to new ways of life and work and how technology provides...
This Week's Show: Learning From Your Failures
On Saturday, June 13, Tawny interviewed Robert Baldacci, MPA of Baldacci Consulting, for this segment of HR Power Hour. For this episode, Robert and Tawny discuss his history and learning from failures. Bob brings a successful 30 year career in real estate, development and corporate finance. He has held...
Supporting the Black Lives Matter Movement: Anti-Discrimination Training (Part 3 of 12)
This is the third post in a 12-part series on how companies can support the Black Lives Matter movement through changes in company policies and practices. Our last post focused on reviewing and updating your EEO Policies. In this post we will focus on best practices in training managers...
Supporting the Black Lives Matter Movement: Update EEOC Policies (Part 2 of 12)
This is the second post in a 12-part series on how companies can show true support for the Black Lives Matter movement by changing company policies and practices. The focus of this post is to understand the role that a company’s EEOC policy plays in creating a safe work...
Showing True Support for the Black Lives Matter Movement Means Changing Company Policies
Statements of inclusion and solidarity with the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement by companies are important, but not enough. What are some steps that you as a business owner or HR leader can do to change and implement policies that can lead to actual change? If you don’t already...
What will COVID-19 Liability Litigation Look Like for Consumer Facing Businesses?
The short answer is, no one knows right now because the issues arising from COVID-19 are extraordinarily rare and distinguishable from more typical claims against retail, restaurants, and similar consumer facing businesses. For example, when a patron experiences a slip and fall accident , food poisoning , a hot...
This Week's Show: Don't Forget General Obligations When Focusing On COVID-19
On Saturday, May 9, Tawny interviewed Elizabeth Johnston, Associate in Verrill's Employment & Labor Group, for this segment of HR Power Hour. For this episode, Liz and Tawny discuss the importance of not forgetting employers' general obligations in the midst of COVID-19. A regular contributor to Verrill’s Taking Care...
This Week's Show: Visual Leadership
On Saturday, March 28, David Ciullo, co-host of HR Power Hour, interviewed Todd Cherches, CEO and Co-founder of BigBlueGumball, for this segment of HR Power Hour. For this episode, David and Todd discuss Todd's new book about visual leadership. Todd is also a three-time award-winning Adjunct Professor of leadership...
This Week's Show: Opportunity Under COVID-19
On Saturday, April 25, David Ciullo, co-host of HR Power Hour, interviewed Chris Cynkar, Franchise Consultant of FranChoice, for this segment of HR Power Hour. For this episode, David and Chris discuss job opportunities and options during COVID-19. Chris Cynkar knows the challenges of finding the perfect business opportunity...
Can I Require Employees to be Tested for COVID-19 Before Entering the Workplace?
Yesterday, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) published guidance in response to this question and the agency’s answer was yes—“an employer may choose to administer COVID-19 testing to employees before they enter the workplace to determine if they have the virus.” (See Q. A.6). The EEOC noted that under...
The NWCDN’s COVID-19 Benefits Survey: A State By State Analysis
The National Workers’ Compensation Defense Network (NWCDN), a nationwide and Canadian network of law firms, has published COVID-19 updates, including “COVID-19 Benefits Survey,” a state by state analysis of the pandemic layoffs and affects on benefits as of April 13, 2020. Beth Smith , a member of the NWCDN...
This Week's Show: Intellectual Property for HR Professionals
On Saturday, April 18, Tawny interviewed Kelly Donahue, Partner in Verrill's Intellectual Property Group, for this segment of HR Power Hour. For this episode, Kelly and Tawny discuss intellectual property for HR professionals, including delving into trademarks, copyrights, trade secrets, and patents. Kelly assists small and large businesses in...
This Week's Show: The FFCRA and CARES Act
On Saturday, April 4, Tawny interviewed Benjamin Ford, Partner in Verrill's Employment & Labor Group, for this segment of HR Power Hour. For this episode, Ben and Tawny discuss the current state of the COVID-19 pandemic based on information currently available. Topics covered include recent CARES Act and FFCRA...
This Week's Show: Training, Development, and Humanizing Recruiting
On Saturday, March 28, David Ciullo, co-host of HR Power Hour, interviewed Saïd Eastman, CEO and General Manager of JobsinME, for this segment of HR Power Hour. For this episode, David and Saïd discuss training and development, a key driver to employer retention and engagement. Founded in Maine, JobsInME...
COVID-19 Alert: State of Maine and City of Portland Issue Orders to Close Non-essential Businesses
On Tuesday March 24, 2020, both the City of Portland and the State of Maine issued comprehensive new limitations on business establishments in order to further limit the spread of the coronavirus. Both actions were aimed at limiting the operation of non-essential business and government operations, and continuing to...
Hiring During the COVID-19 Pandemic: What You Can Do
Despite the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak, business—and hiring—must go on. As the EEOC continues to update its guidance regarding employment practices during the pandemic, here are common questions regarding how to implement legally-sound hiring practices while protecting your workplace. Q: May I screen job applicants for COVID-19, and if so...
BREAKING: Massachusetts and Connecticut Order Closure of Non-Essential Businesses
Massachusetts has joined an increasing number of states ordering the closure of non-essential businesses in the midst of the coronavirus outbreak. On March 23, 2020, Governor Charles Baker signed COVID-19 Order No. 13 , which requires all businesses and organizations that do not provide “COVID-19 Essential Services” to temporarily...
Employer Obligations under the Revised Families First Coronavirus Response Act (H.R. 6201)
On March 18, 2020, President Trump signed into law the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (the “Act”) in response to COVID-19. Among other provisions, the Act gives a broad group of employees the right to emergency paid sick leave and also expands protections under the Family and Medical Leave...
To Test or Not to Test: Employer Considerations Amid COVID-19 Pandemic
Q: I am concerned about employees coming to work with a fever—can I test employees’ temperatures before allowing them to work to avoid spreading the coronavirus? Verrill’s View: Maybe—but there are many factors to consider. Generally, taking an employee’s temperature would be a restricted medical examination, but employers may...
COVID-19: Updated FAQs
Employers across the country are struggling with how to support their employees and their customers, and also to keep their business afloat, as the cry for social isolation to curb the spread of the novel COVID-19 (coronavirus) grows stronger. There are a lot of complicated issues that we are...
This Week's Show: AARP Legislative Initiatives
On Saturday, March 14, David Ciullo, co-host of HR Power Hour, interviewed Sarah Mysiewicz Gill, Senior Legislative Representative of AARP Governmental Affairs Department, for this segment of HR Power Hour. For this episode, David and Sarah discuss what her job is like in the AARP Governmental Affairs Department and...
Should Employers Recognize COVID-19 As A Work-Related Injury?
While we know that everyone is being bombarded with COVID-19 recommendations, advice, news and data, one area that appears to have been overlooked is the question of whether COVID-19 infection, if acquired at work and due to the work performed, might result in a workers’ compensation injury. That specific...
This Week's Show: Maintaining a Strong Culture as Your Organization Grows
On Saturday, March 7, Tawny interviewed Sean Riley, President and CEO of Maine Course Hospitality Group, for this segment of HR Power Hour. In this episode, Sean discusses that Maine Course's purpose is to positively impact lives. He speaks of the company's purpose and values every chance he gets...
The Coronavirus: FAQs for Employers
We’ve been here before. Remember the H1N1 outbreak of 2009? That little bug originated outside of Mexico City. As the virus spread, governments issued travel warnings and schools were on notice to be extra vigilant. There was even a quarantined cruise ship and a run on surgical masks. Sound...
This Week's Show: Verrill's 2020 Annual Employment Law Update
On Saturday, February 22, HR Power Hour published our live interviews at our 2020 Annual Employment Law Update, asking attendees about the all-day event, HR concerns they have for the coming year, and more. Tawny interviewed Eric Altholz, Partner in the Employee Benefits Group at Verrill. She talked to...
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