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The new workplace: one with less strict with regards to everything. Casual dress, flexible schedules, no employee handbook or policies, a social construct and a non-traditional corporate culture. These smaller firms may be the way of the future. But do these new businesses with their free-for-all mentality; blur the lines of what constitutes sexual harassment? … more »

New Focus HR has recently had the opportunity to recruit for a Human Resources Director for a local client.  The job is a fairly high level HR position requiring in depth experience in all of the functional areas of human resources.  For those of you who are not familiar with the functional areas they include: … more »

It is almost summer and many companies have plans to have college interns within their organizations. Have you asked the question as to whether interns should be paid a minimum wage and overtime under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) for services that they provide to your organization? If not, please consider these suggestions first. … more »

Terminate. This word is frequently used by owners and managers in business. Most however, don’t really understand what it means to terminate an employee. Educating these decision makers on items to consider prior to termination and the different types of terminations is sometimes challenging. First of all, there are different types of terminations and not all of them … more »

Conflict in the workplace is not something that owners, managers and supervisors seek out.  However, it happens every day in companies of all sizes. Most management-level employees do not do a great job of documenting negative subordinate behaviors or poor performance, nor do they even do an okay job. Documentation for negative employee behaviors and … more »

You may or may not have a wellness program at your company. But chances are if you do, the level of participation isn’t very high. The goal of these programs is to help control health care costs by increasing preventive care and in turn, reducing the occurrences of prevalent medical conditions. Unfortunately adding these programs … more »

It is that time of year when most of us use the greeting “Merry Christmas,” “Happy Holidays,” or “Season’s Greetings.” Some ask, which one is politically correct in my work environment?  The answer depends completely upon the cultural or religious diversity in your work environment.  However, with that being said, employers must be cautious about … more »

New Focus HR Consultants frequently receive calls from employers asking the question, “Do I need to pay nonexempt employees for travel time?”  The answer is confusing to most as it is “maybe?”  The federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) travel-time regulations include a provision that has confused employers, leading them to mistakenly think that they … more »

It’s the time of year for holiday party planning. The tough question that arises is how to make your employees enthusiastic about attending your company party? Here are some tips to help throw a better company party. First, it’s always good to ask for your employee’s opinions and suggestions on how they’d like to celebrate … more »

On July 14, 2014, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) issued new enforcement guidelines on pregnancy discrimination and related issues for covered employers with 15 or more employees in their workforce.  The guidelines include a new interpretation of the Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA) that would require employers to provide “reasonable accommodation,” as defined by the … more »