Roundup: This Week's Top HR Stories From Around The Web

HR News Roundup: This week find out what the census knows about state employment, how poor benefit choices leads to major waste, OFCCP's clarifications on internet hiring rules and more.... this week's top human resources news stories from around the web.

Can You Tell Engagement By Looking at Posture?
There’s a lot you can tell about a person just by looking at them; whether they’re feeling open or closed to interaction, if they’re happy or sad and whether or not they’re sick at the moment. According to some experts, you can also tell how productive somebody is feeling, and certain body language can increase that employee engagement.

Senator Blumenthal Promotes Hiring of Veterans
The CT News Junkie reports that U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal visited with veterans this week at Bristol’s Arna Machine to help promote hiring and tax credits. - CMS is hosting a WOTC Webinar on August 29th for both for profit and non-profits. Click here for more.

Biggest Companies of the 2012 Inc. 5000
Which of America's fastest-growing companies sells the most stuff? Would you guess Facebook, Levi Strauss, or Publix, or none of the above? Find out.

How to Train Your High-Potential Employees
Your high-potential employees aren't going to take over the world on their own. Here's how you can help them help you.

OFCCP Clarifies Rules to Make Clear It’s All Up to You
If your employer does business with the federal government, you already know — or should know — the rules about Internet hiring.... Now comes clarifications of these rules from the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs that won’t make life any easier, but which do, at least, make it clearer what records to keep and who is responsible for keeping them.

Here’s an FMLA danger zone you might have overlooked
A recent court ruling offers a reminder of an oft-overlooked area where FMLA regs get companies in trouble: performance reviews.

Census Bureau Reveals State of State Employment
State and local governments employed approximately 16.4 million full-time workers in March 2011, according to recent estimates released by the U.S. Census Bureau. This number is down 1.4 percent from the same time in 2010. The report found that 8.9 million of these workers were employed in education, 964,381 worked in hospitals, 923,951 worked in police protection, and 717,940 were occupied in corrections positions.

Poor Benefits Choices Lead to Significant Annual Waste
New research out of Aflac has revealed that 56 percent of employees waste up to an annual $750 on poor insurance benefits election. Nearly 25 percent of respondents said they either chose the wrong level of coverage or chose options they didn't need while just 16 percent of employees said they were confident in their selections. The Aflac study, entitled the 2012 Open Enrollment Survey of the Aflac Workforces Report, polled 2,500 consumers in July 2012.

California On Brink of New “Can’t Ask” Social Media Password Law
California is about to become the third state to prohibit employers from asking employees or job seekers for access to their social media postings. Without dissent, the California Senate this week approved AB1844, the privacy measure. It now requires an Assembly vote and Gov. Jerry Brown’s signature before it takes effect. The Assembly vote is likely this week and is almost perfunctory, since it has already once passed there without dissent.

5 steps to accommodate major 401(k) compliance deadline looming August 30
Many companies sponsoring 401(k) plans may not be aware that they’re facing a critical regulatory deadline on August 30. That’s the federal deadline for disclosing to employees the amounts of fees that they’re paying for their plans. The overwhelming majority of these investors don’t have the vaguest idea how much they’re paying in fees. If you’re an employer at a small or mid-sized company, there’s a good chance that you don’t either.


5 Minute Coffee Break....
Got a few minutes? Had enough of cute cats taking over the internet?  Introducing Dog Shaming: http://dog-shaming.com/

Looking for more? Check out last week's Roundup: This Week's Top HR Stories From Around The Web, or follow @cmsbrian on Twitter for regular  updates.

Roundup: This Week's Top HR Stories From Around The Web

What we've read this week, what HBO's 'Hard Knocks' can teach managers, the outrageous death benefits Google employees receive and how to be more productive at work....


The Benefits of Paperless HR: Sustainable, Cost-Effective, and Within Your Reach
Sage HRMS via Slideshare

U.S. Trails World in Paid Time Off as 40% Don’t Get Money
About 40 percent of U.S. workers, or more than 55 million Americans, don’t get paid when they take vacation or sick days, the government reported.

Why Every Manager Should Watch HBO’s 'Hard Knocks'
At the beginning of this year’s training camp, the Miami Dolphins’ tall and angular new head football coach, Joe Philbin—who looks more like a dentist than a tough-talking gridiron guru—reminds one of the team’s high-profile acquisitions that he’d be wise to toe the line. The player is the wide-out Chad Johnson, a man known until recently as Chad Ochocinco, who earlier had unleashed some foul language during a press conference.

Extreme Benefits: Google Edition
Google's incredibly generous death benefits have generated huge admiration. But what are they really for?

Make Meetings Productive: 3 Better Ways
Everyone hates meetings. When people get the chance to work from home, they undoubtedly say they're more productive because they don't have to go to meetings. In the thousands of meetings I've sat through, I can tell that within half an hour, most people tune out, and their capacity for creative thinking is mostly turned off.

WOTC Webinar: What’s new with the Work Opportunity Tax Credit?
CMS would like to invite you to join our resident Human Resources and Tax Credit Expert,  Brian Kelly, to find out what's new with the Work Opportunity Tax Credits. Brian will review the following, and answer any questions you may have about this extremely valuable tax credit.

Drive Success and Motivation Through Management
Considering the cost of replacing an individual should deter most HR professionals from jumping to fire even a problem employee given the state of the current economic and job markets. Identifying the reasons why workers don’t succeed and driving strategic HR management solutions can help maintain staff.

Why don’t firms do a better job of talking to employees about benefits?
Everybody’s always saying how important it is to communicate regularly with employees, especially in the benefits area. So how come so few companies do it effectively?

Roundup: This Week's Top HR Stories From Around The Web

What we've  been reading this week, Recruiting Lessons From the Olympics and why men get bigger pay hikes than women:

Survey: Employees don't support linking wellness, benefits

Employment Costs in the U.S. Increased 0.5% in Second Quarter

Like Smart Casual Attire for Work?

U.S. Government Offering Grants for Disability Programs

Can you take back relocation money if the employee doesn’t spend it all?

12 Steps to Crack Down on FMLA Abuse

Perk that’ll make your company more attractive to 72% of workers

9 HR mistakes likely to get you sued

The Catch-22 of Criminal-Background-Check Guidance

Working from Home or Hardly Working?

Employment Gains for August 2012 Won't Affect Current U.S. Jobless Rate 

Upcoming Sage Webinars in August

Introduction to Sage HRMS (For Prospective Customers)
Learn how Sage HRMS can make HR more strategic and solve your HR and payroll challenges with integrated solutions including HR, payroll, benefits, training, recruiting, compliance, and talent management.
August 8, 2012, 2:00PM - 3:00PM Eastern Time (US & Canada) Register
August 22, 2012, 2:00PM - 3:00PM Eastern Time (US & Canada) Register

 The Benefits of Compliance to HR Organizations: Identifying and Adopting Best Practices
Compliance--the very thought of implementing an HR "compliance system" typically strikes terror in the minds of HR managers and IT professionals alike. Attend this live webcast and learn what an HR best practice compliance system consists of, its benefits to your HR organization, and how to achieve it cost-effectively.
August 2, 2012, 1:00PM - 2:00PM Eastern Time (US & Canada) Register

 Paperless Payroll With the Sage Payroll PayCard
Offer your employees a cost-effective and secure way to receive their paycheck electronically with the Sage Payroll PayCard by Motivano. Find out how easy it is to enroll and start offering your employees a new payroll benefit immediately! (This service is currently not available in Canada.)
August 2, 2012, 2:00PM - 2:30PM Eastern Time (US & Canada) Register
August 9, 2012, 2:00PM - 2:30PM Eastern Time (US & Canada) Register
August 23, 2012, 2:00PM - 2:30PM Eastern Time (US & Canada) Register

Transform Your Workplace: Paperless Employee Change Forms With Sage HRMS
Transform your organization by going paperless with Sage HRMS HR Actions® by Delphia Consulting. Managers and employees can complete web-based forms spanning the entire employee lifecycle that are routed electronically for approval based on your business rules. Attend this live webcast and see why with Sage HRMS HR Actions, self-service has never been easier!
August 7, 2012, 11:00AM - 12:00PM Eastern Time (US & Canada) Register 

Sage HRMS HR Actions - Create, Route, Approve, and Save Paperless Web-Based Forms
This introduction to Sage HRMS HR Actions® by Delphia Consulting demonstrates how employees, managers, and administrators can easily submit web-based forms for any HR transaction, including status change forms and performance appraisals. Join us to see how validated forms are routed for approval based upon your business rules and how approved forms update Sage HRMS with the click of a mouse. Web self-service has never been easier!
August 21, 2012, 11:00AM - 12:00PM Eastern Time (US & Canada) Register
August 29, 2012, 3:00PM - 4:00PM Eastern Time (US & Canada) Register
  
Risk Management: How a Paperless HR Department Can Survive the Compliance Jungle
This one-hour live webcast will compare and contrast the benefits of a paperless human resources system with an automated compliance program.
August 21, 2012, 2:00PM - 3:00PM Eastern Time (US & Canada) Register

The Data-Driven HR Organization: How to Achieve It and How to Benefit From It
In your daily HR activities, have you ever said, "If only we had known . . . " about such things as excessive overtime, expiring certifications, or employee pay rate changes? If so, you can avoid doing so in the future by becoming a "data driven" HR organization. Attend this live webcast and learn how you can become a data-driven HR organization and provide a higher level of service to your organization.
August 30, 2012, 1:00PM - 2:00PM Eastern Time (US & Canada) Register

Click here to register for any of the above listed webinars or call CMS at 1-800-517-9099.

Roundup: This Week's Top HR Stories From Around The Web

Introducing our newest blog feature:  Roundup: This Week's Top HR Stories From Around The Web. We read so many different articles online in our favorite HR blogs and news sites about human resources, compliance, payroll, recruiting and business, that we thought it would be a good idea to share them with you every Friday. We'll also be sharing a weekly Recruiting news roundup on our iRecruit Blog. This week, learn what you didn't see at SHRM 2012 and what to do when an employee throws a temper tantrum.

Give Yourself Time to Make Benefits Enrollment Easy

Here’s What You Didn’t See During SHRM 2012

You Can Implement Performance Management

Rynes: Manage Change Effectively

When an employee throws a temper tantrum

Introduction to Sage HRMS

How to Create a Solid Communication Line Between HR and Payroll

Two departments closely tied and certainly affected by the process and output of its "sister" department are the payroll and human resources departments. Employees often do not understand the difference between payroll and human resources so they include both departments on their inquiries and concerns. In this live one-hour webcast we will talk about the common goals and differing objectives of HR and PR. We will cover some best practices for sharing data and working as a team on project assignments and also learn how to combine talents to support field human resource and payroll representatives.

Employees often do not understand the difference between payroll and human resources so they include both departments on their inquiries and concerns. Managers have goals and objectives based on assigned projects for their group, but may be unaware of how this impacts the other half of the information trail. We will talk about the common goals and differing objectives of HR and PR. We will cover some best practices for sharing data and working as a team member on project assignments. We will also learn how to combine talents to support field human resource and payroll representatives.

Participants will learn:

• How to effectively communicate between the HR/PR departments
• Support and train field HR/PR representatives
• How to provide better customer service to employees
• Apply best practices on sharing data

Who Should Attend:

• Large and small HR/PR departments
• One person HR/PR departments
• Any HR/PR department experiencing growth

HR Recertification Credits:
This webcast has been approved for 1.00 recertification credit hours toward PHR, SPHR, and GPHR recertification through the HR Certification Institute (www.hrci.org). Certificates of completion will be provided upon request only to individually registered attendees.

Dates Available:

• June 26, 2012, 1:00PM - 2:00PM Eastern Time (US & Canada)

Click here to register for this webinar or call 1-800-517-9099.

Must See June Webinars by Sage

Join the HR and Payroll experts at Sage in June and learn about HR compliance best practices, talent management, automating your performance appraisal, improving communications between HR and Payroll departments, and so much more. Below are listed June's upcoming Sage webinars:

Paperless Payroll With the Sage Payroll PayCard
Offer your employees a cost-effective and secure way to receive their paycheck electronically with the Sage Payroll PayCard by Motivano. Find out how easy it is to enroll and start offering your employees a new payroll benefit immediately! (This service is currently not available in Canada.)
June 7, 2012, 2:00PM - 2:30PM Eastern Time (US & Canada)  
June 14, 2012, 2:00PM - 2:30PM Eastern Time (US & Canada)
June 21, 2012, 2:00PM - 2:30PM Eastern Time (US & Canada)


The Benefits of Compliance to HR Organizations: Identifying and Adopting Best Practices
Compliance--the very thought of implementing an HR "compliance system" typically strikes terror in the minds of HR managers and IT professionals alike. Attend this live webcast and learn what an HR "best practice" compliance system consists of, its benefits to your HR organization, and how to achieve it cost-effectively.
June 14, 2012, 3:00PM - 4:00PM Eastern Time (US & Canada)

Automate the Performance Appraisal Process and Go Paperless With Sage HRMS
Automate your performance appraisal process while going paperless with Sage HRMS HR Actions® by Delphia Consulting. Managers and employees can collaborate to complete web-based performance review forms that are routed for approval based on your business rules. Attend this live webcast and learn how with section-based scoring, rich formatting, intelligent fields, and one-click updates to Sage HRMS, self-service has never been easier!
June 19, 2012, 3:00PM - 4:00PM Eastern Time (US & Canada)
June 28, 2012, 11:00AM - 12:00PM Eastern Time (US & Canada)


Sage HRMS HR Actions - Create, Route, Approve, and Save Paperless Web-Based Forms
This introduction to Sage HRMS HR Actions® by Delphia Consulting demonstrates how employees, managers, and administrators can easily submit web-based forms for any HR transaction, including performance appraisals. Join us to see how validated forms are routed for approval based upon your business rules and how approved forms update Sage HRMS with the click of a mouse. Web self-service has never been easier!
June 20, 2012, 3:00PM - 4:00PM Eastern Time (US & Canada)


How to Create a Solid Communication Line Between HR and Payroll
Two departments closely tied and certainly affected by the process and output of its "sister" department are the payroll and human resources departments. Employees often do not understand the difference between payroll and human resources so they include both departments on their inquiries and concerns. In this live one-hour webcast we will talk about the common goals and differing objectives of HR and PR. We will cover some best practices for sharing data and working as a team on project assignments and also learn how to combine talents to support field human resource and payroll representatives.
June 26, 2012, 1:00PM - 2:00PM Eastern Time (US & Canada)


The Data-Driven HR Organization: How to Achieve It and How to Benefit From It
In your daily HR activities, have you ever said, "If only we had known . . . " about such things as excessive overtime, expiring certifications, or employee pay rate changes? If so, you can avoid doing so in the future by becoming a "data driven" HR organization. Attend this live webcast and learn how you can become a data-driven HR organization and provide a higher level of service to your organization.
June 28, 2012, 3:00PM - 4:00PM Eastern Time (US & Canada)

Click here to register for any of the above listed webinars or call CMS at 1-800-517-9099.

Lunch & Learn Sage HRMS & iRecruit

We invite you to our “Lunch & Learn Webinar” on CMS iRecruit and Sage HRMS

Date and Time:  12:30 pm, Tuesday, May 1, 2012

You will learn how you can meet the growing challenges of HR/Payroll/Recruiting management and spend more time and efforts on more important strategic issues of HR/Payroll/Recruiting Department.

Please register at http://www.cmshris.com/lunch_and_learn.html as your earliest convenience since seats are limited. We will send you the instructions how to join the “Lunch and Learn Webinar” upon receiving your completed Registration Form.

If you prefer to have on-site seminar or one-on-one webinar on Sage HRMS and/or CMS iRecruit at no cost to you, please let us know your convenient date and time for the webinar using the form, or by calling us at 1-800-517-9099.

Sage HRMS Compliance Webinar

Cost-Effective Compliance: What It Consists Of and How to Achieve It

Compliance -- the very thought of implementing an HR "compliance system" typically strikes terror in the minds of HR managers and IT professionals alike. Attend this live webcast and learn what an HR "best practice" compliance system consists of, its benefits to your HR organization, and how to achieve it cost-effectively.

The amount of time and money required for an HR organization to adopt a system of "best practice" HR compliance rules can be considerable. And yet most -- if not all -- HR organizations will readily admit that the concept of compliance and operating by a set of "best business practices" within their HR departments can yield significant benefits.

Attend this live webcast and learn . . .

• Why an HR organization should strive to become compliant (and the resulting benefits).
• Why historical efforts at compliancy are so costly and resource intensive.
• How HR organizations can achieve compliancy in a cost-effective manner.

Dates Available:

• April 26, 2012, 1:00PM - 2:00PM Eastern Time (US & Canada)
• May 24, 2012, 1:00PM - 2:00PM Eastern Time (US & Canada)
• June 14, 2012, 3:00PM - 4:00PM Eastern Time (US & Canada)

Click here to register for this webinar or call 1-800-517-9099.