HR BestPractices

SPECIAL REPORT
A supplement to BLR publications
Top 10 Best
Practices in
HR Management
For 2007
Prepared for the HR Daily Advisor
www.hrdailyadvisor.com
30612160
SPECIAL REPORT
A supplement to BLR publications
Top 10 Best
Practices in
HR Management
For 2007
30612160
Executive Publisher: Robert L. Brady, J.D.
Editor in Chief: Margaret A. Carter-Ward
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Top 10 Best Practices in HR Management for 2007

Table of Contents
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
#1 Controlling Healthcare Costs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
#2 Compliance Issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
#3 Technology, Security, and Legal Liability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
#4 Hiring and Retention . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
#5 Ethics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
#6 Crisis Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
#7 Aging Workforce . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
#8 Immigration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
#9 Managing a Diverse Workforce . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
#10 HR for the Future . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
©Business & Legal Reports, Inc. 30610800

Introduction
The role of Human Resources is changing as fast as technology and the global
marketplace. Historically, the HR Department was viewed as administrative over-
head. HR processed payroll, handled benefits administration, kept personnel files
and other records, managed the hiring process, and provided other administrative
support to the business. Those times have changed.
The positive result of these changes is that HR professionals have the opportunity to
play a more strategic role in the business. The challenge for HR managers is to keep
up to date with the latest HR innovations—technological, legal, and otherwise.
This special report will discuss the top 10 best practices in HR management for
2007—in other words, how HR managers can anticipate and address some of the
most challenging HR issues this year. This report will give you the information you
need to know about these current HR challenges and how to most effectively man-
age them in your workplace.
#1 Controlling Healthcare Costs
According to a recent survey by Watson Wyatt Worldwide and the National Business
Group on Health, employers expect healthcare benefit costs to increase approxi-
mately 8 percent in both 2006 and 2007. Knowing that healthcare costs will not
decrease in coming years, the challenge then becomes how to control the
increases to manageable levels.
Consider the following best practices to address rising healthcare costs:
Wellness Programs
There is little question that employers can have a positive impact on employee
behavior. Done well, employer-sponsored wellness programs have been successful
in helping employees make better choices. Some such activities are full blown pro-
grams. Others are small, finite activities that are part of overall HR and safety. Well-
ness programs include:
◆ Exercise and fitness
◆ Smoking cessation
◆ Blood pressure management
◆ Weight management
◆ Stress management
◆ Cholesterol management
◆ Nutrition
©Business & Legal Reports, Inc. 30610800 1

101 Ways to Wellness
The Wellness Councils of America believes the workplace is the ideal place to pro-
mote worker health and well-being. To that end, the organization has published a
list of 101 tips and strategies (the entire list is at http://www.welcoa.org), including:
◆ Promote a healthy diet.
◆ Make sure drinking water is available to your employees.
◆ Provide information for depressed workers.
◆ Talk about fire safety at work and at home.
◆ Implement a pre-shift stretching program.
◆ Promote use of seat belts.
◆ Pay attention to noise levels at your facility.
◆ Teach proper hand-washing techniques.
◆ Promote safe recreation, including bicycling and boating.
◆ Initiate a sun-safety campaign.
In order to establish well-crafted wellness initiatives, consider the following tips:
Offer options. Offer employees a range of services gauged for varying levels of
readiness to change. Resource and referral programs, for example, are good for
addressing a problem quickly and on a one-time basis. In-depth health coaching
(often called disease management), by contrast, works well for older employees
and those with chronic conditions.
Target employee goals. To increase participation, target such specific goals as
weight loss, stress reduction, diabetes management, cancer prevention, and heart
risk evaluation. Help employees connect each, offering a dietitian’s advice, blood
pressure and/or cholesterol screening, reimbursement for costs of fitness programs,
for example, with its health benefits or the conditions it will help to prevent.
Provide “next step” instructions. If you provide a health risk assessment, build
in action steps to address whatever risks an employee identifies. In other words,
offer immediate follow-up advice as part of the tool.
Use wellness-oriented incentives to encourage participation. For example,
consider discount employee healthcare coverage premiums for those who achieve
certain goals, such as weight loss or smoking cessation. Or, in addition to fitness
reimbursement for such activities as gym membership, promote discounts or spe-
cial offers on fitness equipment, weight-loss meals, or other products that fit in with
your programs.
Tailor your programs to the demographics of your workforce, especially
average age. Contrary to a common misperception, older employees are often
more, rather than less, likely to be interested in wellness activities.
Target obesity for the biggest payoffs. According to a study by the Rand
Corporation, healthcare costs associated with obesity are 36 percent greater than
those for normal weight, and greater than those associated with smoking or heavy
drinking.
2 Top 10 Best Practices in HR Management for 2007

Employer Options: What to Do
Most HR and safety professionals have little trouble accepting the proposition that
improving health will have a positive impact on workplace conditions. What is not
so clear, however, is that short-term economic benefits will cost-justify expenditures,
which is essential in selling the programs to management. Employers should con-
sider the following:
Program components. All programs seem to have several components in com-
mon, including: 1) an assessment device that classifies employees based on “risk
factors” and their interest/willingness to change, 2) some form of counseling to
help the employee understand those risks and what can be done, 3) a recom-
mended program of action, and 4) follow up to evaluate progress and reward and
recognize success. Some programs are very elaborate, with counseling by physi-
cians or other health professionals; others are simpler and cheaper.
ROI cost/benefit. There is agreement that if we reduce our risk factors, we can, as
a group, reduce our health expenditures. (Risk factors are the things that people
do, or the conditions that they have, that predict higher health costs. To establish
risk and act as a counseling tool, an assessment device gets data about these fac-
tors from the employee: high alcohol use, smoking, high body mass index, stress,
poor eating habits, high cholesterol, and risk for diabetes.)
Whether or not the return will justify the expenditure in any specific case will
depend on a number of factors, including retention rates and the rate of adoption
by workers. Potential benefits include a reduction in healthcare insurance premi-
ums, workers’ comp claims, employee absences, turnover, medical leaves, retrain-
ing due to turnover, and inefficiency due to presenteeism.
Beware of Legal Land Mines

Employers should be aware that some wellness programs can run afoul of federal
and state laws in terms of reasonable accommodation, privacy, confidentiality of
personal health information, and protection of off-duty conduct.
Wellness programs encourage employees to adopt or maintain healthy lifestyles—
or at least take the first steps toward learning about healthy alternatives. Choosing
healthier alternatives for reducing cholesterol levels, for example, may reduce an
employee’s chances of suffering from heart disease. Less disease means employers
can lower their plan utilization, thus lowering health benefits costs and, in turn,
increasing profits. There are additional benefits, too, such as increased productivity,
fewer workers’ compensation claims, better attendance, and improved morale.
However, wellness programs must be carefully crafted. For example, a wellness pro-
gram that offers financial incentives to employees who walk a certain number of
miles per week may discriminate against employees whose disabilities preclude
them from reaching the target number. When developing a program, therefore,
employers must be aware of the legal requirements that may impact their deci-
sions. Offering a reasonable alternative that allows a disabled worker to earn the
financial incentive may satisfy certain legal requirements, but crafting such alterna-
tives may be challenging. Employers should have their legal counsel review a well-
ness program before it’s presented to employees.

Best Practice: Getting Well with Fitness Programs
When Moen Incorporated opened a fitness center at its headquarters more than a
decade ago, it did so as a “feel-good” type of service for employee morale, retention,
and recruitment. Since that time, however, its wellness initiatives have had a signifi-
cant impact on the company’s bottom line. An internal study found that for every
dollar that Moen (www.moen.com) spends on its wellness programs, it saves $3 to
$4. That savings can be attributed to reduced time away from work and healthcare
cost savings.
Moen’s Wellness Center is located at the company’s North Olmsted, Ohio, head-
quarters. About 280 employees, or 56 percent of the workforce at that location
are members of the center. The company subsidizes the expense of running the
Wellness Center. Membership costs $15 per month and includes access to fitness
equipment and related programs. Moen sponsors a variety of programs to help
associates lose weight and/or maintain a healthy lifestyle, including massage ther-
apy, personal training, yoga, kickboxing, health screenings, and monthly lunch-and-
learn educational sessions.
Cutting Program Costs

A variety of strategies for cutting program costs. Among these are making changes
in the areas of plan design, financing, purchasing, vendor management, care man-
agement, pharmacy, and retiree medical management. Consider the following spe-
cific steps in cutting program costs:
HSAs. Many companies are implementing health savings accounts (HSAs), which
are a cost-effective way to co-fund health care. HSAs are designed to help individu-
als save for future qualified medical and retiree health expenses on a tax-free
basis.
Network management. Also recommended are high-performance networks
where experts analyze cost and practice patterns, weeding out from the network
specialists who cost much more than others. These are specialists who tend to
order more tests and require more doctor visits than others. By removing them, the
total cost of health care for employers decreases.
Surcharges. Another strategy for cost-cutting is introducing “dependent sur-
charges.” These are charges levied by companies to cover employees’ working
spouses who could be covered under their own plan. The surcharge creates an
incentive for the spouse to switch to his or her own plan.
Volume discounts. Joining a coalition of employers that leverages volume to pur-
chase health coverage on a group basis can also help employers reduce costs.Vol-
ume purchasing power when negotiating with community providers leads to lower
overall costs.
Not surprising, the experts maintain that no single method will reduce costs dra-
matically. Rather, implementing a variety of methods can help employers save
money over the long term.

Best Practice: Cutting Healthcare Costs
Kimley-Horn, an engineering firm, saw healthcare costs rising and combined plan
options and wellness offerings to successfully combat the upward trend of health-
care expenditures. The company offers two preferred provider organization (PPO)
plans to eligible employees—one with a $500 deductible and the other with a
$1,000 deductible. Both plans include coverage of medical expenses, vision care,
and prescriptions.
The firm pays the entire premium for the higher-deductible plan for employee-only,
employee-plus-one, and family coverage, and the entire cost for employee-only cov-
erage on the lower deductible plan. With a $500 deductible, employees pay $56 or
$85 monthly for employee-plus-one or family coverage, respectively.
Dental coverage costs $35, $74, or $100 monthly for employee-only, employee-plus-
one, or family coverage. A flexible spending account is also offered for employees
who want to set aside money for out-of-pocket medical expenses on a pre-tax basis.
Rather than increasing the cost of insurance to employees, Kimley-Horn, a self-
insured firm, has searched for other cost-saving solutions. For example, the com-
pany rents Blue Cross/Blue Shield’s network of providers and pays a monthly fee
for BC/BS to administer the plan.
Through this affiliation, employees earn prizes and gift certificates for reaching cer-
tain exercise milestones, and one-on-one counseling is available for health issues
such as smoking, obesity, high blood pressure, and diabetes. Not only does this
emphasis on wellness help keep employees healthy, it also reduces Kimley-Horn’s
out-of-pocket cost for medical expenses incurred by employees.
Disease Management
Disease management is a system of coordinated healthcare interventions and
communications for employees with conditions in which patient self-care efforts
are significant. Employers who engage in disease management often find that they
are reducing costs and they are preventing catastrophic claims from occurring.
To make disease management a success, you or your insurer must create the program
thoughtfully and purposefully.When establishing a disease management program,
consider taking the following steps:
1. Determine if your provider has a disease management program in place.
If not, you should reconsider your relationship with them. If they do, ask about
their results, how they are reaching out to the members, and what they do to
make the programs work.
2. Consider the communication process. Provide employees’ internal email
addresses to your administrator for communication of health insurance infor-
mation. Have your administrator communicate to employees about disease
management opportunities. For most employers, that’s a stretch—you’re not
sure you want them communicating directly with your employees. But as email
becomes standard for communications, this is one thing that could really help
employers make a difference. This is a major—and very important—change in
perspective for employers that want to approve all communications to their
employees.

3. Encourage participation through incentives. Employers can create incen-
tives for the employees, their spouses, and their children to take health risk
assessments with their carriers. For example, offer employees a $50 gift certifi-
cate for completing the health risk assessment, a series of questions, usually
taken online. The assessment can be a very valuable tool in predictive model-
ing to find those people who need help.
Best Practice: Saving with Disease Management

IBM first tried disease management in 1997 with a small pilot program for employ-
ees with diabetes. The company had such positive results that they expanded to
other diseases in 1999 and again in 2001. Besides diabetes, IBM now has programs
for congestive heart failure, asthma, depression, and coronary artery disease.
How successful are the programs? In the fiscal year May 1, 2003 through April 30,
2004, IBM saw a $25 million in savings from the program. Five targeted illnesses
accounted for more than 50 percent of IBM’s overall claims costs. In order to make
the most effective program, part of IBM’s strategy was to contact all employees who
registered on their risk assessments as potential beneficiaries of the program, not
simply those with the highest risk.
It was this hard data that was critical in IBM’s efforts to find indicators of particular
conditions. However, quantifiable data is not enough; an employer will also need
qualitative data from the members themselves. The employee needs to complete
a health risk assessment and communicate with clinical staff to be a part of the
equation.
Can Disease Management Work for Smaller Employers?

For smaller companies, the real value proposition of disease management is an
impact outside the healthcare plan. The greatest return on investment for smaller
employers may be in productivity gains, reductions in absence rates, workers’
comp costs, and disability costs. Disease management programs aren’t for every
small employer since most programs have a 3- to 5-year return on investment. As a
result, employers with a high turnover rate will not benefit. Likewise, disease man-
agement may not be appropriate if the company tends to move from one carrier to
another every few years.
Caution: Don’t Go It Alone

If your organization is contemplating a disease management program, don’t try
to collect health data from employees yourself. When an employer makes health-
related inquiries, employees may get the impression that the company is collecting
confidential information. Instead, consider hiring an outside disease management
firm and assure your employees that health risk assessment data is completely
confidential, and that nobody in HR, or any managers or supervisors, are going to
see any of it.
Preventing Healthcare Fraud and Related Costs

Healthcare fraud is a growing problem, one that costs between 5 percent and 10
percent of total healthcare expenditures each year in the United States, according

to experts. Bogus product claims, improper coding on claims, even submitting
completely fabricated billings are all part of the problem.
In order to address and prevent healthcare fraud in your workplace, consider the
following measures:
Audit coverage. One solution to the problem may start right on the desk of bene-
fits professionals. Regularly auditing dependent coverage can weed out anyone
who is no longer entitled to coverage due to divorce, age limits, and marriage.
Some of these errors may result simply from oversight or lack of knowledge on the
part of employees, but whatever the reason, removing those who are not entitled to
coverage will save you money.
Communicate with your provider. Managers should also discuss fraud with
providers. Third-party administrators should be able to articulate exactly what
they’re doing to prevent fraud. For example, they should have the ability to exam-
ine claims for unusual billing codes, such as “upcoding” and “unbundling.” Upcod-
ing is the practice of assigning a more-complex billing code to a less-complex
procedure. Unbundling is failing to use a code that covers several procedures
when coding each procedure separately would net a greater insurance benefit.
Third-party administrators should also be able to examine providers to uncover
patterns that may reveal improprieties.
Reward whistleblowers. One way to help reign in healthcare fraud is to offer
incentives to participants. In cases where an employee notices a fraudulent occur-
rence, you could reward them with a percentage of the amount saved. Employees
also need to understand that they are paying the price for fraud through higher
insurance costs. Use the opportunity of employee newsletters and company
intranet sites to tell them about the problem.
#2 Compliance Issues
It is a perennial challenge—HR professionals on the quest for information regard-

ing changes in the laws that affect human resources management.The year 2007
is no exception to the rule of quickly changing legal landscapes, new regulatory
obligations, and other legal traps set for the unwary.
The compliance challenges discussed below include:
◆ Implementation of the EEOC’s new EEO-1 Report form in 2007
◆ Requirements of the new Pension Protection Act of 2006 (PPA)
◆ Effect of the final rules on Health Insurance Portability and
Accountability Act (HIPAA) nondiscrimination
How to Comply with Requirements

Of the New EE0-1 Report
The EEO-1 Report—formally known as the “Employer Information Report” —is a
government form requiring many employers to provide a count of their employees
by job category and then by ethnicity, race, and gender. For the first time in many

years, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has substantially
revised the EEO-1 Report form. Early in 2006, EEOC announced that substantial
changes were made to the race and ethnic categories, as well as the job categories
on the form.
EEOC’s guidance published with the new EEO-1 Report states that all covered
employers must use the new EEO-1 reporting format with the report due in Sep-
tember 2007. However, EEOC has stated that covered employers need not resurvey
their workforce in order to complete the EEO-1 Report due in September 2007. As
a result, employers will need to use the new EEO-1 Report in 2007, but they will not
need to resurvey and report on new race/ethnic categories for their workforce
until they begin to prepare for the September 2008 EEO-1.
Implement changes now, when possible. Although employers are not required
to fully resurvey until the 2008 EEO-1, if employers are able to complete the new
EEO-1 Report in 2007, on the basis of their own knowledge of the workforce (i.e.,
employer can identify employees of two or more races and Hawaiian employees),
they may do so. If the employer is not able to fill out the new racial/ethnic cate-
gories on the new EEO-1 Report in 2007 without resurveying the workforce, boxes
for the new racial/ethnic categories may be left blank. Please note, however, that
employers should complete the new EEO-1 data requirements for new manager
and other job category types, since this information can be
determined without resurveying.
Managing the EEO-1 Report’s New Job Categories

One of the substantial changes brought about by the recent changes to the EEO-1
Report is the split in job categories and revision of job category titles. The new job
categories are intended to mirror the employer’s own well-established hierarchy of
management positions. According to EEOC, the new job categories will allow
assessment of the extent to which minorities and women have access to power
and decision-making jobs in the employer’s workforce.
The revised EEO-1 report divides the old EEO-1 category of “Officials and Man-
agers” into two levels based on responsibility and influence within the organiza-
tion. The two levels are:
1. Executive/Senior-Level Officials and Managers—defined as those who
plan, direct, and formulate policy, set strategy, and provide overall direction; in
larger organizations, within two reporting levels of CEO; and
2. First/Mid-Level Officials and Managers—defined as those who direct imple-
mentation or operations within specific parameters set by Executive/Senior-
Level Officials and Managers, and oversee day-to-day operations.
The revised EEO-1 also moves business and financial occupations from the Offi-
cials and Managers category to the Professionals category in order to improve
data for analyzing trends in mobility of minorities and women within Officials
and Managers.
Each employee must be reported in only one job category. In order to simplify and
standardize the method of reporting, all jobs are considered as belonging in one of
the broad occupations shown in the EEO-1 reporting table.

Note: As mentioned in Step 1, above, employers can identify and reclassify job cat-
egories without resurveying. As a result, employers will be expected to provide this
new information on the 2007 EEO-1 Report.
Tracking Race and Ethnicity Category Changes

The new EEO-1 Report increases the previous five race and ethnicity categories to
seven categories, as follows:
◆ Adds a new category titled “Two or more races”
◆ Divides “Asian or Pacific Islander” into two separate categories:“Asian” and
“Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander”
◆ Renames “Black” as “Black or African American”
◆ Renames “Hispanic” as “Hispanic or Latino”
◆ Strongly endorses self-identification of race and ethnicity categories, as
opposed to visual identification by employers
The definitions of the seven new racial classifications are:
◆ Hispanic or Latino—A person of Cuban, Mexican, Puerto Rican, South or
Central American, or other Spanish culture or origin regardless of race
◆ White (Not Hispanic or Latino)—A person having origins in any of the origi-
nal peoples of Europe, the Middle East, or North Africa
◆ Black or African American (Not Hispanic or Latino)—A person having
origins in any of the black racial groups of Africa
◆ Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander (Not Hispanic or Latino)—A
person having origins in any of the peoples of Hawaii, Guam, Samoa, or other
Pacific Islands
◆ Asian (Not Hispanic or Latino)—A person having origins in any of the origi-
nal peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, or the Indian Subcontinent, includ-
ing, for example, Cambodia, China, India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Pakistan, the
Philippine Islands, Thailand, and Vietnam
◆ American Indian or Alaska Native (Not Hispanic or Latino)—A person
having origins in any of the original peoples of North and South America
(including Central America) and who maintain tribal affiliation or community
attachment
◆ Two or More Races (Not Hispanic or Latino)—All persons who identify
with more than one of the above five races
The 2-Question format explained. In order to properly solicit self-identifica-
tion, employers will need to ask employees first to specify if they are Hispanic or
Latino. Employees who respond “No” to the question as to whether they are His-
panic or Latino should then choose one of the six other race/ethnicity categories
(i.e., White, Black/African American, Asian, Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, Amer-
ican Indian/Alaskan Native, or Two or More Races). This process, called the
“2-Question Format,” is endorsed by EEOC as the proper method for determining
race and ethnicity categories.
Employees who self-identify as Hispanic or Latino should not be counted in any
other race or ethnic category. They should be reported as Hispanic or Latino on
the EEO-1 report. If an employee supplies race data, employers must preserve such
data as an employment record under 29 CFR Sec. 1602.14.

Change workforce data systems. In order to properly manage workforce data to
respond to the EEO-1 Report’s new race, ethnic, and job categories, employers must
revise employee information systems now to accommodate the new categories,
and review and change job classifications. These changes are especially necessary
for the EEO-1 job category that was formerly “Officers and Managers,” since the
change to two levels is likely to affect most employers. These changes will also
most likely require the participation of the employer’s IT department (or other
departments involved with workforce management), so early notification is vital.
The Pension Protection Act of 2006

The Pension Protection Act of 2006 (PPA) makes wide-reaching changes to the
Internal Revenue Code and the Employee Retirement Income Security Act
(ERISA) governing employer-sponsored qualified retirement benefit plans. The PPA
was signed into law on Aug. 17, 2006. Some provisions of the Act took effect in 2006,
while others will not be effective for years.
Pension Plan Protection

The legislation aims to strengthen the protection of pension plans. Specifically,
the PPA:
◆ Provides a permanent interest rate based on a modified “yield curve” for
employers to more accurately measure current pension liabilities as they
come due.
◆ Requires employers to make sufficient contributions to plans in order to meet
a 100 percent funding target, phased in over 5 years for companies for plans
that are, in general, funded above 90 percent under current law; companies
with plans funded below 90 percent must meet the new 100 percent target
immediately. The phase-in of the 100 percent target begins in 2007.
◆ Requires employers to make additional contributions to erase funding short-
falls over 7 years.
◆ Triggers accelerated contributions if a plan’s funded status falls below
60 percent, with a 5-year phase-in.
◆ Reduces the smoothing of interest rates to protect plans against market and
funding volatility.
◆ Prohibits employers from using credit balances if their plans are funded at less
than 80 percent.
◆ Permits employers to make additional maximum deductible contributions of
up to 150 percent of current liability.
Defined Contribution Plans

The PPA also contains provisions to help American workers who save for retire-
ment through defined contribution plans like IRAs and 401(k)s. The legislation:
◆ Removes barriers that prevent companies from automatically enrolling their
employees in defined contribution plans;
◆ Ensures that workers have more information about the performance of their
accounts;
◆ Provides greater access to professional advice about investing for retirement;

◆ Gives workers greater control over how their accounts are invested; and
◆ Makes permanent the higher contribution limits for IRAs and 401(k)s that were
passed in 2001, enabling more workers to build larger retirement nest eggs.
Required Disclosure
Finally, the PPA requires employers to provide specific information/disclosures to
employees about the status of their pension plans. The Act:
◆ Requires both single and multiemployer plans to include more detailed and
specific information on their Form 5500 filings, the equivalent of a pension
plan’s federal tax return
◆ Enhances Form 4010 disclosure requirements and make all Form 4010 infor-
mation filed with the PBGC available to the public, except for sensitive corpo-
rate proprietary information
◆ Establishes a 60 percent, at-risk threshold that determines whether plans pose a
threat to the PBGC and therefore file 4010 information
◆ Allows the PBGC to request pension plan information from an employer in an
industry suffering from a substantial business hardship if the plan is less than
75 percent funded
◆ Requires both single and multiemployer pension plans to notify workers and
retirees of the funded status of their plan within 90 days after the close of the
plan year
◆ Requires both single and multiemployer pension plans to provide the sum-
mary annual report notice to workers and retirees within 15 days of the Form
5500 filing deadline
Changes to Plan Structure.

Under the PPA, organizations have more options for plan structure. In the past,
employers and plan sponsors faced restrictive fiduciary regulations that restricted
their efforts to advise employees on how to invest their savings—only one-size-fits-
all, very general guidance could be given. Now that some employees’ investments
can be chosen for them, restrictions had to be relaxed. The PPA allows third-party
investment advisors to provide individualized financial advice based on goals and
lifestyles as well as on age.
Advice can be made available through computer models or from a personal advi-
sor who charges a flat fee. Before the PPA, employers were also saddled with com-
plex “nondiscrimination” formulas meant to ensure as much participation among
low- and middle-income employees as by an organization’s highly compensated
staffers. Under the PPA, employers that provide both autoenrollment and required
levels of contribution matches can avoid those restrictions with a “safe harbor”
plan. Employers that do not utilize a “safe harbor plan” must still match, but at a
level based on the size and demographics of the employer’s workforce, which will
encourage employees who are not highly compensated to participate.
The PPA is highly complex and touches on a multitude of employer obligations
and legal responsibilities. As a result, it is highly advisable for an employer to famil-
iarize itself with the specifics of the PPA as they apply to plans offered by the
employer.

HIPAA Nondiscrimination Rules
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA),
the Internal Revenue Service, and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Serv-
ices have published final rules that provide guidance in complying with the
nondiscrimination provisions of HIPAA. The rules will be effective on the first day
of the plan year beginning on or after July 1, 2007. For calendar year plans, the new
rules generally apply beginning January 1, 2008.
Health Factors
Under HIPAA’s nondiscrimination rules, an individual cannot be denied eligibility
for benefits or charged more for coverage because of any health factor. Health
factors are:
◆ Health status;
◆ Medical condition, including both physical and mental illnesses;
◆ Claims experience;
◆ Receipt of health care;
◆ Medical history;
◆ Genetic information;
◆ Evidence of insurability; and
◆ Disability.
The term “evidence of insurability” includes conditions arising from acts of domes-
tic violence, as well as participation in activities such as motorcycling, snowmobil-
ing, all-terrain vehicle riding, horseback riding, skiing, and other similar activities.
The nondiscrimination rules specify circumstances under which a group health
plan may or may not deny eligibility in the plan, including that no physical exami-
nations are allowed for plan enrollment and that healthcare questionnaires are
permitted in order to enroll, provided that the health information is not used to
deny, restrict, or delay eligibility or benefits or to determine individual premiums.
Exclusion for Specific Diseases

Under HIPAA’s nondiscrimination rules, group health plans may exclude coverage
for a specific disease, limit or exclude benefits for certain types of treatments or
drugs, or limit or exclude benefits on the basis of a determination that the benefits
are experimental or medically unnecessary—but only if the benefit restriction
applies uniformly to all similarly situated individuals and is not directed at individ-
ual participants or beneficiaries on the basis of a health factor they may have.
Note: Plan amendments that apply to all individuals in a group of similarly situ-
ated individuals and that are effective no earlier than the first day of the next plan
year after the amendment is adopted are not considered to be directed at individ-
ual participants and beneficiaries.
Source of Injury
If the injury results from a medical condition or an act of domestic violence, a plan
may not deny benefits for the injury—if it is an injury the plan would otherwise cover.

For example, a plan may not exclude coverage for self-inflicted injuries (or injuries
resulted from attempted suicide) if the individual’s injuries are otherwise covered
by the plan, and if the injuries are the result of a medical condition (such as
depression). However, a plan may exclude coverage for injuries that do not result
from a medical condition or domestic violence, such as injuries sustained in high-
risk activities (for example, bungee jumping). However, the plan could not exclude
an individual from enrollment for coverage because the individual participated in
bungee jumping.
Effect on Wellness Plans

The final rules provide guidance on the implementation of wellness programs.
The HIPAA nondiscrimination provisions generally prohibit group health plans
from charging similarly situated individuals different premiums or contributions
or imposing different deductibles, copayments, or other cost-sharing requirements
based on a health factor. However, there is an exception that allows plans to offer
wellness programs.
The final regulations specify that wellness programs that condition a reward on an
individual satisfying a standard related to a health factor must meet five require-
ments to comply with HIPAA’s nondiscrimination rules.
Five Requirements
The five requirements for wellness programs that base a reward on satisfying a
standard related to a health factor are:
1. The total reward for all the plan’s wellness programs that require satisfaction
of a standard related to a health factor is limited; generally, it must not exceed
20 percent of the cost of employee-only coverage under the plan. If depend-
ents (such as spouses and/or dependent children) may participate in the well-
ness program, the reward must not exceed 20 percent of the cost of the
coverage in which an employee and any dependents are enrolled.
2. The program must be reasonably designed to promote health and prevent
disease.
3. The program must give individuals eligible to participate the opportunity to
qualify for the reward at least once per year.
4. The reward must be available to all similarly situated individuals. The program
must allow a reasonable alternative standard (or waiver of initial standard) for
obtaining the reward to any individual for whom it is unreasonably difficult
because of a medical condition, or medically inadvisable, to satisfy the initial
standard.
5. The plan must disclose in all materials describing the terms of the program the
availability of a reasonable alternative standard (or the possibility of a waiver
of the initial standard).
Wellness Programs That Comply

Under the final regulations, examples of wellness programs that comply with
HIPAA’s nondiscrimination requirements without having to satisfy the additional
standards (assuming participation in the program is made available to all similarly
situated individuals) include:

◆ A program that reimburses all or part of the cost for memberships in a fitness
center
◆ A diagnostic testing program that provides a reward for participation and does
not base any part of the reward on outcomes
◆ A program that encourages preventive care through the waiver of the copay-
ment or deductible requirement under a group health plan for the costs of, for
example, prenatal care or well-baby visits
◆ A program that reimburses employees for the costs of smoking cessation pro-
grams without regard to whether the employee quits smoking
◆ A program that provides a reward to employees for attending a monthly health
education seminar
Note: EBSA has issued updated frequently asked questions (FAQs) on HIPAA’s
nondiscrimination requirements to assist the employee benefit community in
complying with the new rules. Some of those FAQs are cited, above. The full library
of FAQs can be found at www.dol.gov/ebsa/faqs/faq_hipaa_ND.html.
#3 Technology, Security, and

Legal Liability
Internet use, cell phones, picture phones, blogging, and identity theft—just a few
years ago, most employers did not consider these to be “workplace” issues to be
addressed in company policies and practices. However, in 2007 employers would
be well advised to consider how each of these “state-of-the-art” technologies affects
their workplace and to create specific policies or adopt new practices when
appropriate.
Internet Use
The Internet is an extremely valuable search-and-retrieval tool that offers informa-
tion and research material to employees from their desktop computers. However,
employers are justifiably concerned about potential legal exposure and losses in
productivity among employees who spend too much time “surfing” non-business-
related areas on the Internet. In order to prevent use of e-mail records in legal pro-
ceedings and excessive non-business related Internet use, a clearly worded policy
should be put in place.
Best Practice: Internet Policy Planning

Points to consider when formulating an Internet use policy generally include:
Notice. Inform employees that their individual Internet activities (website hits,
downloading files, printing files) may be automatically logged by a network sur-
veillance system and later reviewed by your system administrator for legitimate
business purposes.

Inappropriate use. Remind employees that when they browse the Internet, or
send e-mail containing the company’s domain address, they are representing the
company—not merely themselves—in a public medium. Employees who send out
abrasive, harassing, or discriminatory e-mail messages or news group postings or
who visit inappropriate websites are subject to discipline.Your Internet policy
should be coordinated with other company policies establishing proper standards
of employee conduct and prohibiting harassment or other forms of offensive
and/or unethical behavior by employees. Under no circumstances should an
employee’s use of the Internet compromise the legitimate business interests of the
company or result in illegal activity.
Limiting access. If necessary to prevent abuses, install monitoring and filtering
software to block out or curtail access to specific websites or newsgroups.
Copyright. With the use of the Internet comes the proliferation of data. Some of
this data may be copyrighted by others.You should establish a policy to periodi-
cally review your system to identify any illegal copyrighted items.
System integrity. Will you permit software and documents to be downloaded
from the Internet, and if so, will there be a system in place to automatically scan
downloads for viruses? Will you have a “firewall” in place to protect trade secrets
and confidential information from data corruption or hacking? Will you require
employees to encrypt documents they send via the Internet?
Business use of Internet. If you use the Internet to reach your clients or cus-
tomers—such as maintaining your own website to promote your products—do
you require employees to monitor activity on your site or to update the material
according to a set schedule?
Note: Defamatory employee postings on the company home page should be
included as grounds for dismissal.
Electronic Records and Litigation

Recent changes to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (FRCP), the rules governing
federal litigation, now require lawyers to meet at the outset of a case and to discuss
“any issues relating to the disclosure or discovery of electronically stored informa-
tion, including the form or forms in which it should be produced” (FRCP, Rule 26(f)).
In this meeting between the lawyers, the lawyers should discuss specific databases
that may contain discoverable information, the way in which the database can be
searched, whether the databases can be searched in a cost-effective manner, and
any issues regarding preservation of data during the litigation of the case.
This change to the FRCP will have significant effects on employers and measures
that should be taken to manage, store and save electronic records. In order to pre-
pare for and guard against potential litigation, employers should establish protocol
for storing and identifying relevant databases, as well as procedures for isolating
and “freezing” electronic records to isolate them from a larger database and pre-
vent deletion. Records that may be requested in electronic searches include e-mail,
on-line calendars, faxes, voice mail, Word documents, spreadsheets, videos, deleted
items, archived data and e-mail, PowerPoint® presentations, scanned images, and
instant messages.

Cell Phones
Cell phones have become a valuable tool in conducting business as more employ-
ees are using them to perform their jobs. Among other things, they help boost pro-
ductivity by keeping employees connected to the office and to clients. However,
cell phones also raise a number of issues involving safety, security, and privacy.
For employers, there are liability issues. For example, if an employee has an auto acci-
dent and harms someone while making a work-related cell phone call, the employer
as well as the employee may be found liable. Several lawsuits have been filed against
employers as well as the employees themselves who have harmed someone allegedly
because of cell phone use while driving and doing business at the same time.
The best advice for employers is to check state and local laws and to instruct
employees in writing not to use cell phones while driving. They should also be
instructed that if they receive a cell phone call, they should let voice mail answer it
and/or call back when they can stop at a safe area.
If employees must use cell phones while in their cars, the following safety guide-
lines may help:
◆ Always dial while the car isn’t moving.
◆ Never use the phone in heavy traffic or bad weather.
◆ Use speed dialing as much as possible.
◆ Use a hands-free phone.
◆ Never look up phone numbers while driving.
◆ Never have stressful conversations while driving.
◆ Keep your eyes on the road while on the phone.
Camera Phones
Security and privacy are also the most commonly cited potential risks of camera
phones. Camera phones can be used to capture and send images of confidential
company documents. If trade secrets can be easily photographed, then the com-
pany may not be able to assert that it maintained the information in confidentiality
and may not be able to claim that the information is a trade secret.
Some alarmists say employee ability to access confidential and proprietary infor-
mation via camera phones is a significant risk. Others point out that the dangers
are no different than access via other means (e.g. computers, intranets, paper docu-
ments, etc.). Therefore, the first step in dealing with consumer technology in the
workplace is to be sure your organization already has a strong confidentiality pol-
icy that is effectively monitored and communicated. For example, experts say that
all sensitive information should always be visibly marked as “confidential,”“com-
pany private,” or both, regardless of the format in which it’s published.
As an extra precaution, some companies require departing employees to sign a
statement acknowledging that customer data and other proprietary information is
the property of the company and may not be reproduced or used by any unautho-
rized individual or entity.
In some cases, it may be prudent to ban certain high-tech tools from the workplace.

Note: Camera phones may also be used to send sexually suggestive images, which
may in turn lead to claims of sexual harassment or invasion of privacy, therefore
controlling their use in the workplace is recommended.
Best Practice: Camera Phone Policy Planning

Points to consider when formulating a camera phone policy include:
◆ Areas. Identify the areas where cameras are forbidden. To which locations
inside the facility should the policy apply? Research and development?
Human Resources? Medical records? Bathrooms?
◆ Equipment. What equipment is covered? Will the policy apply to camera
phones only? To camcorders? To video equipment? To all cameras? To hand-
held scanners? To flash drives? To flash memory cards?
◆ Ownership. State if you claim any ownership of images taken with company
equipment or on company premises.
◆ Related policies. Consider referencing other policies like confidentiality,
investigations, security, privacy and harassment. For example, can the company
use hidden cameras to investigate suspected wrongdoing? Are parking lots
under video surveillance to provide security?
◆ Enforcement. Who will enforce the policy? Human Resources? Security?
Supervisors? All of the above? Will you confiscate banned images?
◆ Exceptions. Will you permit exceptions for the “no camera” policy? Can visitors
bring cameras with permission? Can employees use cameras for celebrations?
◆ Discipline. Will you fire employees who violate this policy? Will you confis-
cate banned images? Will you confiscate banned equipment?
Blogging
A blog (short for “Web log”) is an online journal where the writer posts his or her
opinions on the Internet about any topic—including the workplace. Blogging has
grown quickly in recent years both with regard to the number of individuals read-
ing and posting to blogs and the number of blogs available on the Internet. There
have been a number of highly publicized cases in which employees were disci-
plined or fired for disclosing confidential or proprietary information about their
companies and/or describing their employers in an unflattering light.
Best Practice: Blogging Policy Planning

Points to consider when formulating a blogging policy include:
◆ Confidentiality. Describe what obligations employees have to maintain the
company’s and customers’ proprietary information in confidence (including
existing policies, contracts, and laws regulating confidential information).
◆ Respect of dignity. Include a statement that the weblogger should respect
the dignity of others and refrain from posting personal information about or
pictures of co-workers, supervisors, or managers.
◆ Competitors. Can employees use a blog to tout your competitors? Criticize
your competitors? Disparage your competitors? Defame your competitors?

◆ Identification. Are employees permitted to reference the company in their
blog entries? If yes, employees should be asked to include a disclaimer stating
that the blog posting represents their personal opinion and not the official
position of the company.
◆ Business developments/ideas. If you require employees to disclose all busi-
ness developments or ideas that are within the scope of the company’s busi-
ness, then include that statement in this policy.
◆ Media. Can employees comment to the media about the company’s business or
about customers? Can they publicly criticize customers? Vendors? Co-workers?
Supervisors or managers? The company?
◆ Facilities. Can employees use company facilities to develop, design and main-
tain their websites/blogs? Are employees permitted to read and post messages
to blogs during work time or from the workplace?
◆ Links. Can employees link to the company’s website? The websites of cus-
tomers or vendors?
◆ Monitoring. State that the company monitors its facilities (e.g., internet, com-
puter systems, networks, etc.) for compliance with this policy and monitors the
use of its name and trademarks on the Internet.
◆ Deleting. State that the company will delete from its website, files, computer
systems, and storage media any unauthorized materials it may find, at any time
and without notice.
◆ Correlate with other policies. Include references to related policies such as
computer and internet use policies, confidentiality, duty of loyalty, media,
harassment, proprietary rights, copyright, and the like.
◆ Discipline. What discipline will be imposed if the employee violates the pol-
icy? Generally, employers should reserve the right to decide the appropriate
level of discipline in any given circumstance up to and including the immedi-
ate termination of employment.
Identity Theft
In recent years, 9.3 million Americans—or one in every 25 adults—were victims
of identity theft, according to a report by the Better Business Bureau and Javelin
Research. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) estimated that identity theft crimes
tallied $52.6 billion in fraud that year, or almost $200 for every man, woman, and
child in the U.S. Identity theft has been the fastest growing crime in the US for the
past 3 years, according to the FTC, which predicts that in 5 years, the majority of
Americans will have been victimized by identity theft.
Much of the identity theft that occurs in the workplace happens when employees
steal personal information of the company’s co-workers, customers, or clients via
their employer’s computer system. Identity theft also threatens enterprise security,
enabling corporate espionage and fraud, and theft of hard assets and intellectual
property. Large scale or frequent identity thefts also results in significant negative
publicity, impacting sales, partnerships, and employee recruiting and retention.There-
fore, employers need to carefully control access to employee and customer financial
information (via password protection); carefully control the transfer of such informa-
tion; and carefully control the destruction/recycling of company documents.

Employers also suffer other significant costs when their employees experience
identity theft. Conservative calculations based on current identity theft figures indi-
cate that an employer with 1000 employees, who make an average of $40,000
salary per year, should expect to incur productivity losses of more than $600,000
per year.
Employers who are concerned about identity theft hire outside consultants to per-
form a “penetration test” to assess the security of their computer systems. Such con-
sultants will try to hack into your computer system (and will most likely succeed)
and in doing so will discover your weak points and can help you to fix them.
Identity Theft Law Requires Employer Compliance

A provision of the Fair Access to Credit Transactions Act (FACTA) states that any
employer whose action or inaction results in the loss of employee information can
be fined by federal and state government, and sued in civil court. An employee is
entitled to recover actual damages sustained if their identity is stolen due to the
employer’s inaction, or statutory damages up to $1,000. Employees may also bring
class-action suits against employers for actual and punitive damages. In addition,
federal fines of up to $2,500 per employee, and state fines of up to $1,000 per
employee also may be levied.
Protection as an Employee Benefit

One solution that provides an affirmative defense against potential fines, fees, and
lawsuits is to offer some sort of identity theft protection as an employee benefit. An
employer can choose whether or not to pay for this benefit. The key is to make the
protection available, and have a mandatory employee meeting on identity theft
and the protection you are making available, similar to what most employers do for
health insurance.
Best Practice: How to Protect Your Employees

And Your Company from ID Theft
When choosing the best alternative for protecting your employees and your com-
pany from identity theft, consider the four types of protection available:
◆ Computer protection. Anti-virus, anti-spyware, wireless security, etc.
◆ Guidance on protecting against a variety of exposures of personal data
from shredding documents, to opting out of marketing databases, to tracking
data in Social Security, driving, medical, and financial databases
◆ Credit monitoring at varying levels of frequency, sometimes with alert serv-
ices in the event of credit inquiries or changes
◆ Insurance coverage, sometimes including assistance with identity recovery
activities
Balance Employees’ Privacy Concerns

And Your Needs
A common theme to all of the “state of the art” issues discussed above is the bal-
ance between a company’s interest in operating a profitable and safe workplace,
and the employee’s interest in maintaining his or her privacy in an increasingly
public world.

When formulating policies that balance the employers interest with the employee’s
interest in privacy, consider the following suggestions:
Create appropriate notifications to employees about what you will monitor and
when you will have the right to search or conduct surveillance. Disseminate your
policies frequently, to reduce employees’ expectations of privacy.
Tell employees specifically how you will protect their personal health information.
Adopt a ‘minimum necessary’ standard for monitoring, searching, or collecting
medical information. Avoid using a baseball bat if a flyswatter would accomplish
what you want. If you’re concerned only about computer visits to porn sites, say so,
and don’t penalize people who shop online unless you note low productivity.
Implement other safeguards, beyond those for personal health information, to pro-
tect personal information such as Social Security numbers, home addresses, and
other data that can be used in identity theft.
Train your supervisors and managers to abide carefully by your privacy policies.
For example, remind them not to disclose a subordinate’s medical condition to co-
workers or other supervisors without the employee’s express permission. Tell them
to ask HR and or legal counsel if questions arise.
Review not only federal privacy protections but also, more importantly, the laws
particular to the states where you do business.
#4 Hiring and Retention
Hiring and keeping good employees is not only important to business—it’s essen-
tial. Population statistics tell us that the workforce is aging and that there are fewer
men and women in the younger generation to take the place of experienced, retir-
ing Baby Boomers. For HR professionals, this means the race to locate, hire, and
retain qualified employees is on.
As your organization prepares to address staffing needs in the coming year, con-
sider the following steps to effective and efficient hiring and retention.
Developing a Hiring Strategy

Hiring should not be an issue that you think about only on the day that an
employee gives notice and you are faced with the immediate need to fill his or
her position. Particularly in a tight labor market, attracting and retaining top talent
requires a thoroughly thought out hiring strategy that is tailored to the individual
characteristics and needs of your company.
Match Your Strategy to Your Company

Before deciding what approach to hiring will work best for you, consider who you
are as a company. For example, what is your overall approach to company growth?
Are you looking to expand or merely to fill existing positions as they become
vacant? Are you a rapidly growing company that can offer frequent advancement

opportunities as operations expand? Such companies often benefit from hiring
strategies that focus on finding employees at the entry level with potential and will-
ingness to learn the business and develop necessary skills and then training and
promoting from within. Such a strategy allows the company to hire employees at
the entry level, where costs are lowest, and develop and tailor their skills to com-
pany needs over time. On the other hand, a company that grows slowly and there-
fore cannot offer as many advancement opportunities is better served by a strategy
that relies more heavily on outside talent at all levels.
Determine What You Are Looking for in a Candidate

As a part of your overall hiring strategy, you may want to take a look at each of your
company’s job classifications and determine what makes a person a good candi-
date for that job. Go beyond essential job functions and consider the background
and inherent characteristics that are likely to equip a person best to perform the
job.You may wish to look at existing and past employees who have performed best
in the job at issue, and determine what was responsible for their success as part of
coming up with your own detailed profile of the ideal candidate. Be very careful,
however, to be sure that your profile does not include, either directly or indirectly,
any characteristics that might be viewed as discriminatory.
Develop a Budget
Before embarking on a hiring effort, consider the cost involved, and decide how
much you are prepared to spend. Ideally, HR and management should work
together in planning an annual budget for hiring efforts. Consider the amount of
hiring you project will be necessary to fill your needs, the hiring tools that are most
likely to be successful, and the average or projected cost of each.
Choose Your Hiring Tools

There are innumerable sources that can be used for locating qualified applicants.
When hiring for a particular job, it is important to match the hiring tool(s) you use
to the job being filled; for example, it does not make sense to use a costly profes-
sional search firm to fill an entry-level position in building maintenance, nor does
it make sense to use the Internet to fill a position if the types of applicants you are
seeking are not likely to be heavy computer users.
In determining which hiring tools will work best for you, consider the following:
Cost. Display ads in high-circulation daily newspapers can run in the thousands of
dollars. Before deciding to use one, consider whether there might be other less
expensive tools that might work as well and whether you have the time to try other
recruitment sources before using an expensive one.
Time constraints. Outplacement firms can fill positions for you almost instantly,
but they are very costly. If you have an immediate, unexpected opening in an
essential position that the company cannot afford to have vacant for any period of
time, it may be worth the money to use the tool that will fill it most expediently.
Availability of qualified applicants. Are you filling a position for which very
specialized skills are required or a position for which a large number of qualified
applicants exist in the general marketplace? Highly skilled positions may be better
filled through trade association contacts (or in the case of computer trades, the
Internet) than help wanted ads in the Sunday paper.

Once the hire has been made, how should an employer measure their recruiting
success? Consider the recruiting strategy of Texas Instruments:
Best Practice: Measuring Your Recruiting Success

Measuring the results of recruiting efforts is the best way to determine the success
of a recruiting program, according to Texas Instruments (TI). Not only does the
company track traditional measures, such as hiring cycle time and cost-to-hire, to
ensure productivity, it also uses a quality-of-hire metric to determine whether it’s
getting the right talent for the right job.
Four months after an employee is hired at TI, his or her manager is asked to rate
the employee (as part of a survey) on whether the person is “meeting,”“not meet-
ing,” or “exceeding” the manager’s expectations. Currently, TI managers report that
97 percent of their new hires are exceeding expectations. New employees are also
surveyed to see if the job they are performing is what they had expected.
TI’s Recruiting Strategy

After extensive research and planning, the TI staffing organization identified five
major processes for its recruiting strategy:
People planning. HR partners with Finance at a business-group level to evaluate
how many and what type of positions will need to be filled in a given time frame
(typically four quarters out) and to ensure that the business group’s financial plan
will support its hiring plan.
Developing performance profiles. These extensive versions of job descriptions
focus not just on what the job entails, but also on what needs to be accomplished
by a person in that position, and what the job expectations are.
Centralized sourcing. An HR team at TI’s Dallas headquarters is constantly on
the lookout for new talent. The team partners with search firms to keep the talent
pipeline moving. TI also relies heavily on its employee referral program, and it pays
a cash incentive to employees upon hire of their referral. Approximately 50 percent
of hires are referred by employees.
Business-specific recruiting. TI has recruiters dedicated to each of its major
businesses in the United States. These recruiters work directly with hiring managers
to land the candidates.
Assessment and selection. The company uses team-based interviews to select
the best job candidates. Interviewers ask both behavioral questions (e.g., how the
candidate would approach something from an interpersonal communications per-
spective) and technical questions (e.g., how he or she would solve a technology or
process issue).
Retention: Top Concern of HR Professionals

Once an employer has hired a quality employee—how do they keep him or her on
board? Nearly half of 1,000 HR professionals report that retaining workers is their
biggest concern regarding “the bottom-line profitability” of their company, accord-
ing to a survey by Express Personnel Services.

Why are the great employees leaving? Seventy-one percent of top-performing
employees say pay is one of the top three reasons they would leave an organiza-
tion, but only 45 percent of employers cite pay as a top retention issue, according
to a survey by Watson Wyatt Worldwide and WorldatWork. What do employers
believe? Employers were more likely to cite promotion opportunities (68 percent)
and career development (66 percent) as one of the top three reasons top-perform-
ing employees leave.
Bonuses Gaining Popularity for Retention

While base-pay increases remain modest, employers are increasingly relying on
bonuses for attracting, motivating, and retaining talent, according to a survey by
Hewitt Associates. Eighty percent of respondents to Hewitt’s survey of 1,028 large
organizations offer at least one type of broad-based variable pay plan, up from
51 percent in 1991.
Sixty-three percent of respondents offer special recognition awards, which acknowl-
edge individual or group achievements with small cash awards or merchandise.
Sixty-two percent of respondents offer business incentives, the same percentage of
companies that said they offer signing bonuses. Forty-four percent of the companies
offer individual performance awards, the same percentage of companies that said
they offer nonexecutive equity awards. Thirty-five percent of companies said they
offer retention bonuses.
The survey found that respondents forecast that spending on variable pay as a per-
centage of payroll will be 11.0 percent in 2007. Hewitt’s survey found that executive
employees can expect base salary increases of 3.8 percent next year, compared
with 3.7 percent for salaried exempt employees, 3.6 percent for salaried nonexempt
employees and nonunion hourly employees, and 3.3 percent for union employees.
Competitive Benefits Crucial for Retention

In order to combat the loss of employees, employers must focus on meaningful,
competitive benefits that make employees want to stay for more.
Just offering competitive benefits is not enough for employers that are aiming to
retain talented employees. Employers must also communicate with employees,
showing them the value of those benefits and the company that provides them to
the individual. Many employees have no concept of what employers are paying in
terms of employee benefits and healthcare costs. In order to effectively communi-
cate the value of those benefits, employers should use benefits “report cards” or
other type of benefits summary.
Aside from the many types of cafeteria health plans employers can offer in order
to be competitive (including Flexible Spending Accounts and Health Savings
Accounts), employers can also offer wellness programs (physicals, periodic health
assessments, tobacco cessation, obesity programs, etc.), recognition through
rewards and incentives, professional development and training, coverage of
employees’ job-related moving expenses, and much more. No-cost rewards such as
offering flextime or job-share programs are another way to treat employees in a
way that make them feel valuable.

Train Bad Managers to Boost Retention
It is often said that “people quit managers, not companies.” In order to combat the
loss of employees caused by bad managers, employers must enact long-term, sus-
tainable, behavioral change in those managers.
An employee’s relationship with his or her immediate supervisor is the #1 deter-
mining factor of whether the employee will stay and how productive he or she will
be. When a company learns that employee morale is low, the first reaction is often
to conduct leadership training among managers. While this is a good first step,
often the training simply isn’t adequate. There is usually not enough opportunity
for managers to practice the skills they’ve learned, and once they are thrown back
into the “real world” of their jobs, they will instinctively react the way they always
have rather than implement newly learned leadership skills.
Another component to successful behavioral change is to hold the manager
accountable for the success of the training. If participants know that they are going
to be held accountable, they don’t treat training as “a day off” from work, but are
instead highly motivated to acquire and use the skills taught.
Best Practice: Educational Support,

Recognition Lets Employees Achieve, Excel
Employee recognition and a competitive benefits program are important to the
success of any organization. However, those characteristics don’t mean much
unless the leadership has developed an operational structure that challenges and
supports employees to be the best they can be at their work.
At Medical City Dallas (MCD), a 660-bed acute-care facility that is the flagship hos-
pital of the HCA North Texas healthcare system, five indicators of success were
developed to measure the performance of departments and individuals:
1. Employee pride
2. Financial accountability and success
3. Patient satisfaction
4. Physician satisfaction
5. Community awareness
At MCD, a debate began within the senior leadership team as to how to best drive
those indicators. The decision was made to focus on top-down implementation of
investment in leadership development to support the challenge of meeting the
newly created five indicators of success organizationwide.
Leadership development takes many forms at MCD. Some management team
members, from the senior leadership team, middle management, and supervisory
ranks are working on attaining bachelor’s degrees beyond their nursing school
diplomas, master’s degrees for those who already have their bachelor’s, and even
doctoral degrees.
Continuing Education
Another initiative is Medical City Dallas University, a curriculum that includes
monthly, 4-hour training programs covering topics such as stress reduction, conflict

resolution, diversity, staffing, and acquiring capital. Medical City Dallas University
recently held its fall retreat that included a state of the union [hospital] address for
staff. The address was used to roll out the 2007 business plan, with the vision and
theme,“Our city has no limits.”
Every Tuesday, the university chancellor spends an hour in a different department
from 9 to 10 a.m. to learn more about the department. And every day, between 9 and
10 a.m., 30 individuals in management conduct rounds with patients, doctors, or
staff, to better understand employees’ roles and needs so that they can be met.
MCD management has also participated in the advisory board’s leadership devel-
opment program in Washington, DC, sending managers and leaders who expressed
interest, and who were ultimately selected by the VP of HR and chancellor to
attend. Guest lectures are invited to give new insights into leadership.
#5 Ethics
Human Resources professionals have an important responsibility when it comes

to help a company achieve and maintain high ethical standards. Ethics responsi-
bilities are both practical and legal. And failing to comply with either type of ethi-
cal responsibility can have devastating repercussions. In order to create an ethical
workplace, employers should consider taking the following measures.
Establish a Code of Ethics

For senior management and HR executives of many small companies, it may seem
a formidable task to undertake the development of a code of ethics. However, con-
structing one may have long lasting, positive effects on the business culture in your
organization. It may also enhance your employees’ dedication and commitment to
their work and positively influence their behavior in the workplace.
A code of ethics illustrates for customers, employees, and the community your
organization’s expectations for corporate conduct. The code of ethics becomes the
game plan from which employees can develop appropriate business strategies,
and managers can implement work policies and procedures.
Getting Started
The basis for the code of ethics should be the standard to which the organization
aspires to reach and wishes to be measured against. For example:
“Our organization will put its customers first in respect to
both service and the quality of the products that we sell.”
A code of ethics can be specific—denoting purposeful, detailed statements requir-
ing adherence on the part of management and employees. Or, it can be more gen-
eral. For example:
“We will respect every customer and every employee as a
valued and equal individual with whom we interact every

day, regardless of the rank of the employee or the amount
of the customer’s business that we can expect to fulfill.We
will stand behind the quality and value of the products that
we produce and will be honest and forthright in our com-
munication with customers, employees, and the
community.”
One helpful resource that can be used by employers in developing their own code
of ethics was developed by the U.S. Department of Commerce nearly a decade ago.
This document encourages businesses to “adopt a code of conduct for doing busi-
ness around the world.”The basic principles suggested by the Department were the
following:
◆ Provision of a safe and healthy workplace
◆ Fair employment practices, including avoidance of any type of discrimination
◆ A maintained responsibility for environmental protection and practices
◆ Compliance with laws promoting good business practices and ensuring fair
competition
◆ Maintenance of a corporate culture that respects free expression consistent
with legitimate business concerns and does not condone political coercion in
the workplace; that encourages good corporate citizenship and makes a posi-
tive contribution to the communities in which the company operates; and
where ethical conduct is recognized, valued, and exemplified by all employees
Promoting the Code

The CEO may introduce the new company code of ethics with great fanfare to all
staff at an employee meeting, and HR may post it in prominent areas throughout
the firm’s location(s). After the initial introduction of the code, it should be pre-
sented to all new employees during employee orientation, or even to employment
candidates during the recruitment and interviewing process. Senior management
should require that each employee review the code of ethics and sign a statement
that requires him to agree to follow the code.
Reviewing the Code

Once a code of ethics has been put into place, HR executives and senior leader-
ship should review the code on an annual basis and solicit employee feedback
with a mechanism such as an anonymous employee survey or discussion facili-
tated by an outside objective resource. Such practices allow employees to share
their experiences with adhering to the code of ethics and their observation of
other employees and managers regarding their ethical behavior.
Adjustments and changes to the code may be implemented as necessary to reflect
any changes in the firm’s structure, business strategies, or in response to changes in
the business environment. In addition, regular conversation about the code should
be commonplace in department meetings and ongoing employee training. A code
of ethics should not be a statement that is developed and put on the shelf. It
should become a living document that is followed every day.

Other Statements on Ethics
In addition to an ethical code, employers may wish to integrate ethics standards
into other company messages and policies. The following are some other ethical
messages your company might want to communicate in company publications,
handbooks, and training and orientation sessions:
◆ All company stakeholders (employees, management, stockholders, vendors,
etc.) share the common goal of delivering the highest quality product or serv-
ice on time and on budget.
◆ Individuals are responsible and accountable for their actions and behavior as
they relate to colleagues and the organization as a whole.
◆ Fairness is a company focus requiring commitment and cooperation among
all interest groups.
◆ Illegal, immoral, and questionable behavior in the workplace will not be
tolerated.
◆ Good manners and respect for all other employees and customers are
expected at all times.
It is important to note that just saying that the company is committed to high ethi-
cal standards isn’t enough; the standards must be communicated frequently, clearly,
and consistently.
Best Practice: Creating an Ethical Code

That Works
In an effort to establish and enforce a Code of Conduct, Abbott established its
Office of Ethics and Compliance (Office) and formalized its policies and proce-
dures related to ethics. The Office’s primary function is to provide guidance and
train employees about the company’s ethical standards and its expectations of
employees. The Code of Business Conduct is a brief statement of principles that
articulates the company’s core values, key compliance requirements (in summary
form), and a framework for ethical decision-making. It is the fundamental docu-
ment from which the Office of Ethics and Compliance works.
The ethical standards set at Abbott Laboratory’s Code of Business Conduct apply to
all employees—regardless of their level, and the company encourages all employ-
ees to ask questions about the code and to raise any potential violations of it.
The key to the Code is encouraging an open environment where employees feel
comfortable bringing questions and concerns forward and getting help. It is clear
that Abbott has accomplished the goal of employee comfort. Although callers to
the company’s Ethics and Compliance Helpline are not required to give their
names, only about 16 percent of callers request anonymity.
Getting the Word Out

Every new hire receives the code, and it is distributed annually to all 60,000-plus
Abbott employees worldwide. In the past, the company distributed paper copies, but
this year, it will start using a 20-minute CD-ROM program that provides an overview
of the code and allows employees to certify electronically that they have read the
code, that they understand it, and that they will abide by it, according to Brock.

Abbott also provides both in-person and computer-based ethics and compliance
training through its legal division, human resources, and the office of ethics and
compliance. Managers above a certain grade level and all sales and marketing per-
sonnel in the United States and Puerto Rico must complete certain training mod-
ules, including the Web-based Legal and Ethics Resource Network. Employees are
given a schedule for completing the training, but they can decide what day and
time they’ll take the required courses.
How the Process Works

When employees have a question or want to report possible unethical conduct,
they have several channels available to them. They can contact their supervisor,
another manager, HR, Abbott’s legal department, or the Office, or they can call the
Ethics and Compliance Helpline, which is managed by an internal administrator
with the assistance of an outside vendor. The company also offers an online
method for employees to ask questions or report possible unethical behavior.
No matter how a question or report is submitted, the same procedures are fol-
lowed for handling the issue. All questions and reports are forwarded to the direc-
tor of internal investigations in the Office, who logs them into a database and
directs them to the appropriate department for handling and resolution.
Making an Ethics Code Better—What You Can Do

Want to strengthen your company’s code of ethics? Consider the following tips:
Hire the right employees; train them for excellence. During interviews, ask
applicants to explain how they handled a situation in which pressures were put on
them to do something that wasn’t consistent with their sense of right and wrong. Not
only will this help you measure an applicant’s integrity, it will also send a message to
the applicant that ethics is a high priority in your company. Once hired, ongoing
ethics training is essential to ensure that employees’ integrity does not falter.
Communicate an unyielding commitment to integrity. Top management
should ask what is being done by departments and divisions to maintain a high
level of awareness of ethical standards.
Model ethical practice. If leaders don’t practice what they preach, workers will
develop a cynical attitude about the company’s efforts to promote integrity in the
workplace.
Establish a transparent culture. Executives should be open and available to
employees and should conduct business as if every conversation is being taped or
will be published in a newspaper the next day.
Do not tolerate deception. Do not tolerate the “little things.” If you do, before you
know it, you’re falling down a slippery slope.
Share openly the state of all internal operations. Self-audits of a company’s
books should be done by an audit committee that is free of any possible conflicts
of interest.
Encourage and reward honesty. Employees who exemplify a company’s values,
including high ethical standards, should be recognized for their efforts.

Look at the big picture. Always consider the impact of your work on the well
being of society and the environment.
Does Your Ethics Policy Comply

With the Sarbanes-Oxley Act?
The Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) was adopted in the wake of the Enron, WorldCom,
and other corporate scandals, as well as reforms led by the New York Stock
Exchange. Section 406 of the Act specifically addresses corporate codes of ethics
and disclosure requirements in corporations.
Under Section 406, public companies are required to disclose whether they have a
code of ethics and whether they have granted any waivers for certain senior exec-
utives. They also must file their code of ethics as an exhibit in their annual report
or on their website and provide a free copy on request, she says. If a covered com-
pany does not have an ethics code, it must explain why.
Legal Requirements for Ethics Policies

A directive in SOX also required that the U.S. Sentencing Commission amend the
Federal Sentencing Guidelines. Those amendments, which went into effect in
November 2004, specify seven requirements for ethics policies that apply to public,
private, and not-for-profit companies. A company facing criminal penalties as a
result of financial corruption would likely face smaller penalties if it has met the
seven requirements.
The seven requirements are as follows:
1. Establishing ethics compliance standards and procedures.
2. Assigning a specific high-level person to oversee the compliance program.
3. Taking due care in the delegation of substantial discretionary authority to indi-
viduals (i.e., being careful to select an objective, high-level person to investi-
gate any violations.)
4. Communicating standards and procedures to all employees through training
and through printed and electronic materials.
5. Monitoring and auditing the operation of the compliance program, and estab-
lishing a help line to report possible wrongdoings.
6. Consistently enforcing the discipline of employee violations.
7. Responding promptly to any wrongdoing and remedying any deficiencies.
SOX and Whistleblowers

SOX provides employees of publicly held companies the opportunity to file a com-
plaint if an employer retaliates against them for reporting suspected corporate fraud
or other activities related to fraud against shareholders. If it is found that an
employee’s complaint has merit, the employee can win reinstatement and back pay.
If you are a human resources professional at a publicly held company, you should
familiarize yourself with SOX’s provisions and evaluate your company’s policies
and complaint procedures, in order to avoid potential exposure to monetary and
criminal liability.

#6 Crisis Management
Sometimes it’s a hurricane or a flood, and the entire country—even the world—
mobilizes to help. Other times, it’s just you and your family, or your office. Whether
the catastrophe is large or small, planning is the key to survival, for your family and
for your business. The Hurricane Katrina disaster and the threat of an Avian flu
pandemic raised the profile of emergency planning for all us, no matter where
we’re located.
Human Resources’ contingency planning for disasters, big and small, should not
neglect any of three main HR areas: compensation issues, benefits issues, and per-
sonal issues. When considering whether your organization is prepared, ask yourself
the following questions:
Compensation Questions
◆ Will you pay staffers that cannot work or who have evacuated?
◆ If so, do you pay working staff more?
◆ Will you pay overtime to salaried workers involved in cleanup?
Benefits Questions
◆ Do your vendors have disaster plans?
◆ What are they?
Work/Life Questions
◆ Can employees submit claims without documentation?
◆ Are employees prepared?
◆ Can you contact your employees?
Preparing an Emergency Plan

Here are some guidelines for developing an effective emergency plan:
◆ Access potential emergencies in your facility. Do a walkthrough to hon-
estly evaluate what could happen in your workplace under different scenarios.
◆ Predict and prepare. Take as many practical precautions as possible. For
example, if the business is in an earthquake-prone area, strap and otherwise
secure furniture, files, or machinery to the walls or foundations of your work-
place. In a flood plain, keep machinery on upper floors if at all possible. Main-
tain backup generators and cellular phones outside of the workplace.
Whatever the potential problems, try to protect against them.
◆ Be involved. While you can hire a consultant to help with disaster planning,
you must involve your managers and employees so that the plan addresses the
specific needs and problems of your facility.
◆ Designate emergency services. Investigate what local counties, municipali-
ties, and state agencies have in the way of emergency services that you could
contact for help in an emergency and include them in your written emergency
plan.

◆ Compile and include contact information. Employers should post, promi-
nently, the names and regular job titles of people who may be contacted for
further information or explanation of duties under the plan.
◆ Address emergency data backup. Ensure that all computer material is
backed up regularly and stored offsite. If your data is manual, store duplicates
of vital records and essential documents out of the facility. Keep essential
papers such as lists of employees’ relatives to be notified in case of emergency
and vital accounting records in a protected location within the building.
◆ Plan for shutdown. Include instructions for shutting down machines and
stopping all processes.
◆ Communicate. The plan needs to cover all the bases—but also able to be
simplified so that it can be reviewed quickly. Reduce the written plan to an out-
line, post it, and distribute it to all employees with instructions to keep a copy
in their wallet or purse. A copy on the office shelf will be useless if the office
has to be evacuated.
Best Practice: When Katrina Struck,

This Corporation Was Prepared
Devastation in the form of a natural disaster such as a hurricane leaves many cor-
porate leaders reeling, since their organizations are ill prepared. Regions Bank,
however, has met the challenge several times.
Hurricane Katrina affected roughly 400 Regions Bank employees when it hit, with
70 branches closed at one point during the height of the storm. Two months later,
25 Regions Bank branches in the New Orleans area were still closed due to severe
water damage.
Since the banking industry, regulated by both federal and state governments, is
required to have crisis management plans in place, Regions Bank has had a plan
for years. That plan has been put into action several times in the past 2 years due to
hurricanes.
How It Works
When the hurricane warnings start, staffing is immediately increased in the bank’s
HR Solutions Center, a centralized call center located in Memphis, Tennessee. The
daily mission of the HR Solutions Center is to respond to the needs of Regions
Bank’s 26,500 employees.
As a hurricane hits, the Center’s employees make telephone calls both to the bank
branches and to employees at home or to their emergency telephone numbers to
find out how they are being impacted by the storm. Employees also have a central-
ized emergency telephone number they are encouraged to call to let Regions
Bank know where and how they are after a weather emergency has occurred.
When the Solutions Center staff reaches employees and managers after a storm,
the contact database is continually updated so there is accurate contact informa-
tion for employees who are displaced by the storm. Through its communications
with employees, the bank finds out whether employees are okay, whether they
need water, food, and clothing or a temporary place to stay. Trucks are then sent to
dispense the items needed by staff.

Getting Employees Back to Work
After employees and their families are accounted for and safe, Regions Bank gets
employees back to work as soon as possible. In fact, after Katrina, many employees
were relocated temporarily or on a permanent basis to work at other Regions’ loca-
tions. Employees who were relocated to other branches were given a per diem for
food, hotel space and had access to a free store in a conference room where they
could get food items, clothing and other things they needed. Other employees
pitched in, donating items and working in the store to distribute the items to
employees who needed them
Resource: For more information on disaster preparedness, Business and Legal
Reports has created a section to its website (http://hr.blr.com/collection.cfm/col-
lection/11). The new section contains information on disaster plans and sample
policies.
The Avian Flu

According for the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), an
influenza (flu) pandemic is a worldwide outbreak of flu disease that occurs when
a new type of influenza virus appears that people have not been exposed to
before (or have not been exposed to in a long time). The pandemic virus can
cause serious illness because people do not have immunity to the new virus. Pan-
demics are different from seasonal outbreaks of influenza that we see every year.
Seasonal influenza is caused by influenza virus types to which people have
already been exposed. Its impact on society is less severe than a pandemic, and
influenza vaccines (flu shots and nasal spray vaccine) are available to help pre-
vent widespread illness from seasonal flu.
Influenza pandemics are different from many of the other major public health and
healthcare threats facing our country and the world. Pandemics last much longer
than most flu outbreaks and generally include “waves” of influenza activity that last
6 to 8 weeks separated by months. The number of healthcare workers and first
responders able to work is reduced. Public health officials do not know how
severe pandemics are until they begin.
Leave Policies
In a pandemic, people will need to stay home to take care of themselves or their
family members. In order to address this need, employers should consider offering
more sick time or leave time to care for family members. Leave policies may be
expanded to include special clauses for a pandemic, such as:
“In the event of a pandemic (i.e., widespread outbreak of
a communicable disease such as influenza), [Company
Name] will grant additional unpaid leave to employees
who are unable to work as a result of special circum-
stances related to the pandemic.”
Another example would be:
“In the event of a pandemic (i.e., widespread outbreak of a
communicable disease such as influenza), employees will
be permitted additional paid medical leave if they are

infected with the disease or if they have been exposed to
the disease. Additional unpaid leave will be granted to
employees who are unable to work because of the pan-
demic, but for reasons unrelated to their own illness (e.g.
to care for family members who are ill, or to care for a
dependent child whose school has closed temporarily
because of the pandemic).”
Family Care or Childcare Issues

Schools, and potentially public and private preschools, child care, trade schools,
and colleges and universities may be closed to limit the spread of flu in the com-
munity and to help prevent children from becoming sick. School closings would
likely happen very early in a pandemic and could occur on short notice. Parents
of these children may have to stay home to care for their children.
Many employees will be absent to care for sick family members. Remember that
an employee exposed to the virus may not show symptoms for up to 48 hours, but
may still be contagious. Employees should not come to work if they have been
exposed to the virus until they are sure they have not contracted the avian flu.
Commuting Issues
Transportation services, such as subways, buses, and trains may be disrupted, and
your employees may not be able to get to work. The ability to travel, even by car if
there are fuel shortages, may be limited.
Allow Telecommuting when Possible

In order to prepare for a pandemic, create a list of employees who can successfully
perform their jobs, or the necessary parts of their jobs, remotely. Other employees,
like machine operators and many service professionals, will need to be present at
the workplace or on a worksite to perform their jobs. Know which employees fit
into which category in advance.
Include a provision in your company’s telecommuting policy that covers pan-
demics, such as:
“In the event of a pandemic (i.e., widespread outbreak of a
communicable disease), [Company Name] will make tem-
porary telecommuting arrangements as it deems necessary
under the special circumstances created by the pandemic
(e.g., public transportation system shutdown prevents
employees from commuting to work; employee has been
exposed to disease).”
Consider Equipment Necessary for Telecommuters

Employers will need to think through connectivity issues.Take note of who will need
laptops and who has a home computer that will suffice. Do your employees have
high-speed Internet access in order to get VPN access to company files if needed?
Do you need to install special software on their laptops or home computers? Think
about these things ahead of time so that you are prepared for widescale telecom-
muting when the time comes. In the long run, it will keep your employees safe and
keep them working at home if they refuse to come to work.

The Avian Flu—15 Ways Employers
Can Prepare Early
A bird flu pandemic raises unusual and complex concerns about how to protect
employee health and your organization’s economic well being. For example, has
your company considered how it could fulfill customer orders if 25 percent of
the workforce was out sick? Do you have educational efforts in place to boost
employee hygiene? Are your leave policies generous enough to encourage work-
ers to self-quarantine rather than come to work when they might have a serious
contagious illness such as the bird flu?
15 Planning and Preparation Steps for a Pandemic

Just as with preparedness for possible hurricanes, earthquakes, or terrorism, there’s
much you can do to make sure you’re not broadsided and left scrambling if the
avian flu or other pandemic should occur. Here’s a list of steps all businesses can
take to prepare:
1. Someone within your organization should begin by identifying essential func-
tions and individuals (including employees, suppliers, and contractors) that
would be needed to maintain business operations during a pandemic.
2. Identify people who could take over these essential functions if necessary.
3. Consider alternative sources for supplies and other outside services in case
your normal channels are unavailable.
4. Establish an emergency communications plan with key contacts, chain of com-
munications, and processes for tracking and communicating employee status.
Consider hotlines and dedicated websites for communicating information in a
timely and efficient way to employees, customers, suppliers, and vendors, both
inside and outside the workplace.
5. Gather up-to-date and reliable sources of information on the pandemic from
public health and emergency management sources, and pay attention to their
guidance. The Centers for Disease Control website is
http://www.cdc.gov/flu/avian/index.htm. The federal government’s avian flu
site is http://pandemicflu.gov.
6. Plan for how to safely continue business operations or safely evacuate employ-
ees if essential services, such as power, water, and public transportation, are
interrupted.
7. Forecast and allow for employee absences during a pandemic. They could
need to be out because of their own illness, a family member’s illness, quaran-
tines, and school or business closures.
8. Establish policies to cover:
◆ Employee compensation and sick-leave absences—nonpunitive and liberal
leave is recommended to encourage workers to stay home when ill
◆ When previously ill employees can return to work
◆ Telecommuting and flexible work hours
◆ How to respond when employees who have been exposed to the pandemic
flu are suspected to be ill or become ill at work
◆ Restrictions on business travel to affected geographic areas

9. Develop guidelines to help minimize the frequency of face-to-face contact
among workers and between workers and customers. Consider seating in
meetings, office layout, shared workstations, and hand-shaking practices.
10. Notify employees of ways to reduce the spread of germs, such as frequent
hand washing and respiratory hygiene/cough etiquette.
11. Provide infection-control supplies at all worksites, including hand hygiene
products, tissues, and wastebaskets.
12. Evaluate how you can assure that employees will have access to healthcare
services if a pandemic occurs.
13. Supply employees with educational materials about the pandemic, including
signs and symptoms of illness and how it’s transmitted.
14. Have an employee assistance plan in place to address employee fears, anxi-
eties, etc.
15. Educate employees about your pandemic preparedness plan.
#7 Aging Workforce
According to the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH),

middle-aged and older workers will outnumber younger ones by 2010. By that year,
the number of employees aged 59 to 64 is expected to be 21.2 million, compared
with about 14 million in 2000. And the number of workers aged 65 and older
should reach about 5.4 million, up more than a million from 2000 figures.
People are remaining on the job longer for a number of reasons:
They need more money to sustain them because they are living longer.
◆ They need work-provided benefits, especially in light of pressure on pensions
and Social Security.
◆ They seek the stimulation and sense of productivity that come from meaningful
work.
◆ They enjoy feeling valued for their experience and knowledge.
With the aging workforce come issues, the extent of which has not been addressed
by HR at any time in the past. Those issues, including retention, succession plan-
ning, and older worker safety are discussed below.
Aging Workforce Retention Strategies

To engage older workers, employers need to offer the right mix of rewards, such as
healthcare benefits, innovative growth and development opportunities, competi-
tive retirement benefits, and flexible and part-time employment opportunities.
Companies must also develop the right work environment and culture to make the
workday a positive experience for a multigenerational workforce. This may include
training and education regarding generational differences and communication
preferences, as well as diversity and sensitivity training.

Employees who are productive, involved, and feel that they are valuable to the
business structure will remain in the workplace longer. In order to increase the
amount of workplace interaction among employees of different ages, consider tak-
ing some of the following action steps:
◆ Establish a series of mentor relationships that pair older workers with younger
ones; encourage pairs to meet at least monthly for a year or more to work on
career goals set by the younger workers.
◆ Create focus groups of mixed generations to brainstorm ideas about achieving
company objectives.
◆ In populating ongoing project teams, strive for age diversity as well as diversity
of levels, race, and gender, in addition to appropriate functional and depart-
mental representation.
◆ Design benefits to include options that may be attractive to older workers. For
example, offer new hires aged 45 and up with lots of work experience more
than the usual 1 week of vacation. Consider 1-month paid sabbaticals for
employees with more than 5 or 6 years’ service.
◆ Make it easy for older workers to obtain either in-house or external training in
new technologies or methodologies.
◆ Facilitate “phased retirement” for older workers who want this option. Encour-
age part-time work, job-sharing, consulting arrangements—anything that will
allow veteran employees to cut back some while still contributing their knowl-
edge and energy to their colleagues and their company.
Note: The strategies above are also critical to attracting seasoned business profes-
sionals to an organization to fill new jobs and replace employees who leave for
other opportunities.
Succession Planning
Traditionally, succession planning focused on an orderly transition at the top of the
company. Companies would plan for the time when a chief executive officer, presi-
dent, chief financial officer, or other key manager would retire or move on to new
opportunities. The focus would be on a smooth transition to new leadership, mak-
ing sure the company stayed on track during the transition.
Succession planning has taken on a whole new level of importance today as com-
panies anticipate changes in the workforce. One of the most notable is the aging of
the workforce and the significant “brain drain” many companies will experience as
Baby Boomers begin to retire.
In this new environment, succession planning has a broader focus. Companies
must plan not only for staffing needs at the top of the company, but must also iden-
tify and plan for future human capital needs at all levels—planning for the future
growth and success of the company. If the company is not prepared and has not
invested in its key employees, when the need to fill a position arises, the company
will likely find itself paying top dollar to attract talent from outside the organiza-
tion in a fierce competition with other public and private employers.
To be of real value, the succession plan must include input from senior manage-
ment, an analysis of the company’s current and future needs for talent, a plan for
identifying employees who will be trained and mentored to fill key roles in the

future, and a plan for recruiting outside talent to make sure the company has the
skills and experience it needs. Once this is done, the plan must be implemented,
and managers and supervisors at all levels of the company must be evaluated on
their work in developing employees.
Study the Demographics

Early in the process, it is important to analyze the current workforce. Is brain drain
going to present a significant problem for the company, and if so, when and in what
areas or jobs? Knowing when and where there will be key vacancies or a need to
replace accumulated skills and knowledge will help focus on future needs as well
as current vacancies when new employees are recruited and hired.
Link Strategic Goals with Human Capital Needs

Identify the talent, skills, and experience the company will need over the next 5 to
10 years in order to achieve goals and continue to be successful. This will include
the knowledge, skills, abilities, experience, education, core competencies, and even
personality traits that will be needed to fill top management positions and other
positions that will be key to the company’s long-term success.
Senior Management Must Play a Role

As noted above, a succession plan document that sits on a shelf is not helpful.
Armed with demographic information and information on the talent, skills, and
experience the company will need over the next 5 to 10 years, human resources
managers need to involve senior managers in the planning process so that succes-
sion planning and the development of employees are adopted as strategic goals.
Senior management will be more likely to participate in the process if it is linked
to the long-term strategic goals of the company.
Senior management must play a central role both in developing the plan and mak-
ing sure it is properly implemented, including:
◆ Reviewing and adjusting the 5- to 10-year analysis of talent, skills, and experi-
ence to make sure it is aligned with the long-term goals of the company
◆ Identifying key positions and the skills and experience necessary to fill them
◆ Using data that are readily available and can be gathered at regular intervals
◆ Identifying high flyers already working for the company who will be targeted
for mentoring and cross-training so that they can fill key positions in the future
◆ Providing project work to targeted employees in order to expand their knowl-
edge and experience and prepare them for future leadership roles
◆ Supporting recruiting efforts aimed at hiring individuals with the skills and
experience needed now and in the future
◆ Evaluating managers and supervisors at all levels of the company on how well
they develop and mentor employees
Succession Planning as a Retention Strategy

Succession planning that fosters in employees a sense that the company is com-
mitted to their development has benefits beyond simply making sure the company
has the bench strength it needs to fill key positions. In a highly competitive labor
market such as the one predicted over the next 10 years, a working succession

plan can have a significant impact on staff retention. Employees who feel the com-
pany is making an investment in their development and career planning are more
likely to be committed to the organization long term. It is important that these key
employees understand the broader process so that they do not become frustrated
because it appears that there is not a traditional line for advancement for their cur-
rent position.
Measuring Success
One way to keep the focus on succession planning and developing employees is
to track and measure the success of the plan at the department and company
level. One way to do this is through the use of metrics, and another is to make sure
managers are evaluated on how well they implement the plan. Suggestions
include:
◆ Measuring the total number of open positions identified as key positions in the
succession plan that were filled by high-potential employees
◆ Using 360-degree reviews for evaluating the mentoring process by having the
mentor evaluate the employee and vice versa
Best Practice: Older Worker Initiative

Benefits Entire MIT Workforce
When two HR professionals at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
compared notes in 2000 regarding the concerns and future planning inquiries
brought to them by older staff, they decided to develop the MIT Elder Workforce
Initiative.
Under this two-person initiative, a senior retirement counselor and a manager of
career services successfully coordinated existing services, policies, and programs,
as well as added new ones that benefit both older workers and the entire work-
force at MIT.
Varying Perceptions
First, the program managers talked with MIT employees functioning in a wide
range of roles to find out their perceptions of retirement. They found that there isn’t
one answer to what older MIT employees seek. In fact, many do not seek retire-
ment at all; they just want more flexibility, and some want different challenges and
opportunities in their work and in their personal lives.
Working closely with the Work, Family and Personal Life office within HR, which
handles child care, elder care, and other needs of employees in their lives outside
of MIT, the program managers focused on work flexibility, including programs such
as graduated or partial retirement, revamped flex scheduling, and the development
of temporary and project-oriented work programs.
Flexible Schedules, Tasks

A task force on workplace flexibility created by the duo developed guidelines that
have helped MIT foster a more flexible work environment in which some people
can telecommute and others can use flexible scheduling, depending on the needs
of their department. In a one-session course, employees learn the best way to pres-
ent their work scheduling needs and job goals to their immediate supervisors in a

manner that helps them achieve consensus and meets both the employee’s needs
and the department’s work requirements.
Also, two additional work choices were developed to meet MIT’s needs and older
workers’ desires.“MITemps” are former, full-time MIT staffers working approximately
20 hours or more a week on special projects and work tasks. In addition, MIT part-
nered with a temporary agency,Veritudes, to provide MIT work opportunities to
retirees on an informal, temporary basis.
Transition Courses, Manual

The program managers also developed a comprehensive course for older workers
titled,“Shifting Gears: Transitions for Mid-Life and Beyond.” The course, with a
70-page manual, covers everything from participants using questions and exercises
to discover what they want to do in life and in their careers to imagining their
futures 10 years from now. Participants also learn about budgeting and financial
planning based on their own style and circumstances.
Some employees use the course to learn about retirement and graduated retire-
ment, and some use it to shift gears by introducing new goals and challenges in
their work and personal lives.
Another course developed by the program managers,“Working Through the Gener-
ations,” creates understanding and communication among the four generations
that work at MIT—Generations Y and X, Baby Boomers, and the Silent Generation.
Facilitated discussion helps employees learn about the environments in which
each generation grew up and assists them in better understanding the way the
other generations view the world and workplace.
For example, Baby Boomers tend to seek consensus from all attendees at meetings,
while Generations X and Y want to be told what they need to know and just get
back to work, notes Cushman. Once staff develops a better understanding of each
generation, employees work and communicate more productively.
What You Can Do

The program managers at MIT asked their employees what they want and need
and marshaled existing programs and staff to put together much of the initiative.
Even the cost associated with developing the courses (staff time on the part of the
program managers and creating the manuals in-house) was minimal. Creativity,
time, and energy are what you need to develop a similar initiative that benefits all
your employees and retains prospective retirees for a longer period.
Addressing Safety Concerns in

The Older Workforce
The National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) says that “older
workers are known to experience high rates of traumatic fatalities and are also
more susceptible to chronic disease and related conditions.” Although they experi-
ence fewer accidents in many work settings, it may take them longer to return to
the job.
In order to avoid injury and boost safety, consider the following steps:

◆ Encourage employees with arthritis to improve nutrition, increase exercise, and
take other self-help steps. Make sure the tools they use are padded and do not
press on sore joints, and design tasks that minimize pinching or grasping.
Changing the size of equipment and tools gives users a better grip and
requires less force.
◆ If employees have adjustable chairs, tables, etc., make sure they know how to
make the adjustments.
◆ Train employees to know the risk factors of their jobs and how those affect
their health status.
◆ Make sure employees take their scheduled breaks. Consider job rotation so
that no single muscle group is over-used.
◆ For those who work on computers, consider supplying a track ball, which is
used with an open hand instead of a conventional mouse, which encourages
pinching. If workers have pain or difficulty with one hand, train them to use
the mouse or track ball with the other hand.
◆ Provide and recommend use of carts to transport equipment, material, or
finished products throughout the workplace. If these are encouraged by
supervisors, no one need feel embarrassed by using them.
◆ Consider suspending heavy tools overhead and redesigning workstations to
avoid the need for excessive reaches.
◆ Provide handrails on stairs and be sure there is plenty of color contrast
between treads and risers, as older eyes can have difficulty with light
discrimination.
◆ If possible, figure out ways that permit workers to alternate sitting and standing
on the job.
Best Practice: Healthcare Provider

Has Healthy Employees
Baptist Health South Florida (BHSF) has embraced its older workers with policies
and programs that effectively target and reduce risks. Baptist Health is the largest
private employer in South Florida, with about 11,000 on the payroll. It was recog-
nized by AARP as one of its Best Companies for Older Workers and by the National
Business Group on Health as one of the Best Employers for Healthy Lifestyles. The
not-for-profit system is made up of six hospitals.
The hospital’s leaders strongly believe that its success as a healthcare organization
is dependent on the quality of its employees. That’s why attracting and keeping the
very best workers is a top priority. The company has high expectations for all its
staff and, in turn, shows respect and appreciation for those it employs.
Hospitals across the country are facing the aging-worker issue, especially among
nurses. At Baptist Health, the average age of nurses is in the mid-40s. The ongoing
nursing shortage means these workers are aging in place. It also means employers
have to work hard to keep them healthy, despite the pressing physical and emo-
tional demands of the job. This company is clearly proud of the longevity and
service of its workforce.

Best Policies and Practices
BHSF reaches out to older workers through its menu of superior health and retire-
ment benefits, which begin at the age of 55 with 10 years of service. For example,
workers who participate in the voluntary Health Check program are given an addi-
tional $10,000 life insurance policy for taking a health-risk assessment. And
employees can get their prescriptions filled for a discounted copay of $5 for 21
high-cost, commonly used medications.
The company not only makes contributions to employees’ retirement plans, but
also permits workers to draw on the pool of money before they actually retire. This
benefits older personnel who may wish to reduce their hours, yet need to supple-
ment their income with the retirement funds.
Here are some other ways in which BHSF keeps older staff members safe and
shows its appreciation:
◆ Experienced nurses who mentor newer colleagues get a $200 bonus for their
efforts.
◆ Employees get full benefits if they work as few as 20 hours per week.
◆ Workers of all ages are encouraged to pursue additional education; generous
tuition reimbursements are available.
◆ Managers can attend a seminar on age diversity.
◆ Older employees are encouraged to participate in senior health seminars
offered by the hospital to members of the community.
◆ Nurses and other clinical staff are expected to benefit from a new minimal-lift
policy intended to keep them from ergonomic injuries related to patient handling.
The policy was accompanied by a $2 million investment in lifting equipment.
◆ An ergonomics consultant is available to consult with any department or
employee to ensure that the workplace is free of ergo-related hazards.
◆ A strong return-to-work program emphasizes accommodations and alternative
tasks while the employee is recovering.
◆ A comprehensive health and wellness initiative includes on-site fitness oppor-
tunities, health screenings, and a disease-management component. This
involves individual consultation with nurses to address cardiovascular disease,
diabetes, asthma, low-back pain, and other conditions.
◆ Weight Watchers® meetings are held at work, and the company reimburses
employees who reach and maintain their target weight.
Information Sources
To learn more about employing older workers, consult the following additional
resources:
◆ AARP: http://www.aarp.org
◆ The California Department on Aging: http://www.aging.ca.gov
◆ NIOSH: http://www.cdc.gov/niosh
◆ University of Michigan Health System: http://www.med. umich.edu
◆ U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Administration on Aging:
http://www.aoa.gov

#8 Immigration
In 2006, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS’s) U.S. Immigration and
Customs Enforcement (ICE) reported that arrests in worksite enforcement investi-
gations have increased significantly in the last few years. According to ICE, it
arrested 716 individuals on criminal charges (both employers and employees) in
worksite enforcement investigations during fiscal year 2006, up from 176 in fiscal
year 2005. The agency also arrested 3,667 individuals on administrative charges last
year. Total arrests made in ICE worksite enforcement cases during 2006 reached a
level that was more than seven times greater than in 2002, the last full year of oper-
ations for the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service.
For 2007, the immigration enforcement efforts by ICE will continue to intensify, as
the DHS rolls out its enforcement strategy to expand existing efforts to target
employers of undocumented workers and immigration violators inside the country.
In order to be prepared for increased scrutiny by ICE, employers should be aware
of several issues in employment and immigration, including:
◆ No Match Letters, proposed regulations
◆ I-9 tips for compliance
◆ ICE Pilot Verification Program
No-Match Letters
From time to time, employers will receive “no match” letters from the Social Secu-
rity Administration (SSA) indicating that a discrepancy exists between the wage
reporting information submitted by the employer and the SSA records for a certain
employee.
Sometimes the discrepancy is the result of a clerical or technological error occur-
ring somewhere along the line and can be easily remedied. Sometimes the source
of the discrepancy is more complex.
Under the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (IRCA), it is illegal to con-
tinue to employ an individual if the employer knows the individual is or has
become an unauthorized alien. An employer can be in violation of this provision
by having constructive rather than actual knowledge that an employee is unautho-
rized to work.
“Constructive knowledge” is knowledge that may fairly be inferred from facts and
circumstances that would lead a person to know about a certain condition. For
example, an employer has constructive knowledge that an employee is an unau-
thorized alien if the employee fails to complete or improperly completes Form I-9.
Proposed No-Match Regulations

DHS-proposed regulations provide that an employer also has constructive knowl-
edge if it fails to take reasonable steps after receiving information indicating that
the employee may be an alien who is not employment-authorized.
The most common examples of such information are:

◆ Written notice from SSA that the combination of name and SSN submitted for
the employee does not match SSA records; and
◆ Written notice from ICE that the immigration status document or employment
authorization document presented or referenced by the employee in complet-
ing Form I-9 was assigned to another person, or that there is no agency record
that the document was assigned to any person.
Both the SSA and ICE send out “mismatch” letters to employers when these situa-
tions occur.
Procedure for Avoiding Liability

The proposed regulation provides a safe harbor procedure for an employer to fol-
low to avoid constructive knowledge. The premise of the safe harbor procedure is
that an employer that takes the steps that a reasonable employer would take after
receiving a mismatch letter should not be charged with an I-9 violation. If an
employer follows the steps set out in the safe harbor procedure after receiving a
mismatch letter, it will avoid the risk that DHS will find that the employer had con-
structive knowledge that the employee was not authorized to work in the United
States. To qualify for the safe harbor procedure, an employer should do the follow-
ing when it receives a mismatch letter:
◆ Check its records promptly after receiving the letter to determine whether the
discrepancy results from a typographical, transcription, or similar clerical error
in the employer’s records or in its communication to SSA or ICE.
◆ If there is such an error, the employer should correct its records, inform the rel-
evant agencies, verify with the relevant agency that the discrepancy has been
resolved, and make a record of the manner, date, and time of the verification.
ICE would consider a reasonable employer to have acted promptly if the
employer took such steps within 14 days of receipt of the no-match letter.
◆ If these actions do not resolve the discrepancy, an employer should promptly
request the employee to confirm that the employer’s records are correct. If they
are not correct, the employer should take the actions needed to correct them,
inform the relevant agencies, verify with the relevant agency that the discrep-
ancy has been resolved, and make a record of the manner, date, and time of
the verification.
◆ If the records are correct according to the employee, the employer should ask
the employee to pursue the matter personally with the relevant agency, such as
by visiting a local SSA office and bringing or mailing the original documents
or certified copies required by SSA to the SSA office. ICE would consider a rea-
sonable employer to have acted promptly if the employer took these steps
within 14 days of receipt of the no-match letter. This kind of discrepancy will be
considered resolved only if the employer verifies with the relevant agency that
the employee’s name matches a Social Security number (SSN) in SSA’s records
assigned to that name, and the number is valid for work or is valid for work
with DHS authorization. If work authorization from DHS is required, the
employer should verify that DHS records indicate that the immigration status
document or employment authorization document was assigned to the
employee.
◆ If the discrepancy is not resolved within 60 days of receipt of the no-match let-
ter, the employer should complete a new Form I-9 for the employee as if the
employee were newly hired except that the new Form I-9 should be completed

within 63 days of receiving the mismatch letter; no document containing the
SSN or alien number that is the subject of the mismatch letter may be used,
and no receipt for an application for a replacement of these numbers may be
used to establish employment authorization or identity, or both; and no docu-
ment without a photograph may be used to establish identity or both identity
and employment authorization. If a new I-9 is not completed in time, the
employee should be terminated.
Employers may verify an SSN with SSA by telephoning 800-772-6270 (toll-free)
weekdays from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. EST, or go to http://www.ssa.gov/employer/
ssnvadditional.htm. For info on SSA’s online verification procedure, go to
http://www.ssa.gov/employer/ssnv.htm. Employers should make a record of the
manner, date, and time of any such verification, as SSA may not provide any
documentation.
Note: Employers may come upon information that an SSN might be invalid in
another way—for instance, if two or more newly hired employees have the same
or consecutive numbers. In such situations, employers should also follow the safe
harbor procedure. However, the proposed regulation specifically provides that
knowledge that an employee is unauthorized may not be inferred from an
employee’s foreign appearance or accent.
How and Why a Number Might Change

When an individual is lawfully admitted into this country with USCIS’s permission
to work here, the person is eligible for an SSN. SSNs may be issued to individuals
without a work permit if they can prove it is required to comply with a federal,
state, or local law such as getting a driver’s license or motor vehicle registration
or to comply with our various tax laws. If the individual’s work or residence status
changes, a new SSN might be issued. The rules are complex and must be reviewed
on a case-by-case basis.
I-9 Form: Tips and Tactics

The Immigration and Naturalization Act, as amended by IRCA and all subsequent
amendments, prohibits employers from hiring illegal aliens. IRCA applies to all
employers, including those that hire domestic help or farm laborers. Employers are
required to verify that all employees hired after November 6, 1986, are legally entitled
to work in the United States.The law also makes it illegal to discriminate in hiring
and firing on the basis of citizenship status or national origin.
Employees must provide employers with documents that show (1) identity, and
(2) employment eligibility. Employees must also complete an Employment Eligibil-
ity Verification Form, known as Form I-9, attesting under penalty of perjury that they
are either U.S. nationals or aliens authorized to work in the United States.
I-9 Revision?
Amendments to IRCA adopted in 1996 reduced the number of acceptable docu-
ments on List A of the I-9 form. However, according to USCIS interim rule 62 FR 51001
(9/30/97), employers can continue to use the existing Form I-9 (11/21/91 version).
USCIS has been developing a final rule and a new form for several years, but has yet
to issue a new I-9 Form.

Electronic Storage of I-9s
I-9 forms are not filed with the U.S. government. The requirement is for employers
to maintain I-9 records in its own files for 3 years after the date of hire or 1 year
after the date the employee’s employment is terminated, whichever is later. This
means that Form I-9 needs to be retained for all current employees, as well as ter-
minated employees whose records remain within the retention period. Form I-9
records may be stored at the worksite to which they relate or at a company head-
quarters (or other) location, but the storage choice must make it possible for the
documents to be transmitted to the worksite within 3 days of an official request for
production of the documents for inspection.
Since April 28, 2005, employers have been allowed to retain copies of the com-
pleted Form I-9 in electronic format, in addition to the paper, microfilm, or micro-
fiche. The signatures on Form I-9 may be made electronically. Employers may opt
to complete Form I-9 on paper but store the form electronically or may choose to
both complete and retain Form I-9 wholly electronically.
While there is no single governmentwide electronic signature or recordkeeping
standard, ICE has stated that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) electronic stan-
dards (IRS Revenue Procedure 97-22) may serve as a helpful reference for employ-
ers until DHS issues regulations to govern the storage of Form I-9s.
Making the Case for Electronic Storage

Before April 28, 2005, only three types of I-9 record storage were permitted: paper,
microfilm, or microfiche. Even after that date, however, employers were not
required to convert to electronic copies—conversion was, and is, entirely voluntary.
Employees who are in the United States on temporary work visas, and some others,
require HR to periodically reverify their eligibility to work in the United States.
Clearly, centralized electronic storage of records will make that task of updating I-9
information much easier: Employers can build a follow-up function into the data-
base and fill in Section 3 of the I-9 Form with the updated info easily. Furthermore,
maintaining the security of the documents, especially to guard confidential data, is
easier with electronic records, which can be password-protected.
Note: U.S. immigration law does not prescribe or proscribe storage of a private
employer’s I-9 records in employee personnel files. As a practical matter, however,
particularly if a large number of employees is involved, it may be difficult to extract
records from individual personnel files in time to meet a 3-day deadline for pro-
duction of I-9 records for official inspection. As a result, it is recommended that
employers store I-9 Forms separately from individual personnel files.
ICE Verification Program

DHS has launched an initiative to help employers ensure that they are hiring and
employing a workforce that is authorized to work in the United States.
Called the ICE Mutual Agreement Between Government and Employers (IMAGE),
the program is designed to build cooperative relationships between government
and businesses to strengthen hiring practices and reduce the employment of ille-
gal aliens. The initiative also seeks to accomplish greater industry compliance and

corporate due diligence through enhanced federal training and education of
employers .
Under the program, ICE will partner with companies that will serve as charter
members of IMAGE and liaisons to the larger business community.
As part of this program, businesses must also adhere to a series of best practices,
including the use of the Basic Pilot Employment Verification Program, adminis-
tered by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). To date, more than
10,000 employers are using the Basic Pilot Employment Verification to check the
work authorization of their newly hired employees.
ICE will provide training and education to IMAGE partners on proper hiring proce-
dures, fraudulent document detection, and antidiscrimination laws. ICE will also
share data with employers on the latest illegal schemes used to circumvent legal
hiring processes. Furthermore, ICE will review the hiring and employment prac-
tices of IMAGE partners.
Those companies that comply with the terms of IMAGE will become “IMAGE certi-
fied,” a distinction that ICE says could become an industry standard.
In order to participate in the program, companies must first agree to a Form I-9
audit by ICE. They must also use the Basic Pilot Employment Verification program
when hiring employees. In order to become IMAGE-certified, partners must also
adhere to a series of best practices. These include the creation of internal training
programs for completing employment verification forms and detecting fraudulent
documents. IMAGE partners must also arrange for audits by neutral parties and
establish protocols for responding to no-match letters from the Social Security
Administration. ICE is also asking employers to establish a tip line for employees to
report violations and mechanisms for companies to self-report violations to ICE. A
full list of best practices can be found at www.ice.gov .
#9 Managing a Diverse Workforce
According to 50-year projections from the 2000 U.S. Census, the number of Latinos
and Asian Americans in the United States will nearly triple, while the white non-
Latino population will increase a mere 7 percent. In the year 2000, white non-Lati-
nos accounted for 69 percent of the U.S. population that year, while Latinos (who
can be of any race) made up 13 percent, African Americans, 13 percent, and Asian
Americans, 4 percent.
In order to respond to the changing demographics in the United States and the
changing workforce, American employers must begin now to address attitudes,
policies and compliance efforts.
The New EEO-1 Report

As discussed in #2 Compliance Issues, above, the EEO-1 Report was substantially
changed by the EEOC in 2006, including changes to the race and ethnic reporting

categories, as well as the job categories on the form. See the preceding section on
“Compliance Issues” for more information.
Selective resurveying. According to EEOC, employers may choose to resurvey
only employees who were identified as “Asian/Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific
Islander” on the old EEO-1, but doing so is risky. To selectively resurvey may, says the
EEOC, create a perception among employees that management is singling out one
racial group. It also may create the perception that management is being unfair to
other employees who want to self-identify with the new category for “Two or More
Races” but would not have the opportunity to do so at that time. If an employer
does not resurvey for the 2007 EEO-1 Report, EEOC suggests that employers should
count employees previously counted as “Asian/Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific
Islander” as “Asian” for the 2007 EEO-1 Report.
Multiracial employees. If an employee identifies himself or herself as belonging
to several specific races (even though the employer asked only if the employee
considers himself or herself to be “Two or More Races”), the employer should
count the employee in the “Two or More Races” category. However, EEOC states that
the employer should preserve the detailed race information because it is an
employment record (see EEOC’s Q&As on Revised Ethnic and Race Categories,
citing 29 CFR Sec. 1602.14).
Employers may ask employees to specify particular races rather than to check
“Two or More Races,” but they are not required to do so. Again, if employees supply
detailed race data, employers must preserve it as an employment record under 29
CFR Sec. 1602.14.
Hawaiian employers. Under the old rules governing the EEO-1 Report, covered
employers in Hawaii were required to report only on gender and not required to
report the race and ethnicity of their employees. The new EEO-1 rule requires that
employers in Hawaii report on gender, race, and ethnicity for their employees in
each of the new job categories listed on the new EEO-1 Report.
Self-Identification: rules and limits. According to EEOC, the basic principles
for ethnic and racial self-identification for purposes of the EEO-1 Report are first
to offer employees the opportunity to self- identify and, second, to provide a state-
ment about the voluntary nature of this inquiry for employees. In order to make
this system of self-identification work, employers should consider the following
information.
For those employees who decline to or do not self-identify, employers should establish
and consistently use a visual identification procedure. If possible, employers should
record the method of identification utilized (either visual or self-identification).
In order to help employers comply with the rules regarding self-identification, EEOC
suggests that the following (or similar) language be included on any questionnaire
form used to gather racial/ethnicity data from job applicants or employees:
The employer is subject to certain governmental record-
keeping and reporting requirements for the administration
of civil rights laws and regulations. In order to comply with
these laws, the employer invites employees to voluntarily
self-identify their race or ethnicity. Submission of this infor-
mation is voluntary and refusal to provide it will not sub-
ject you to any adverse treatment.The information obtained

will be kept confidential and may be used only in accor-
dance with the provisions of applicable laws, executive
orders, and regulations, including those that require the
information to be summarized and reported to the federal
government for civil rights enforcement.When reported,
data will not identify any specific individual.
Refusal to Identify or Reason to Doubt Identification

If an employee refuses to self-identify using the new race and ethnicity categories,
EEOC directs employers to obtain the necessary information from existing employ-
ment records or visual observation. As previously discussed, employment records
and visual identification may be used only if an employee refuses to self-identify.
According to guidance provided by EEOC, if an employer believes that an
employee is of a different race or ethnicity than the employee claims to be, the
employer must accept the employee’s self-identification by race and by ethnicity.
Since self-identification is a basic principle underlying the changes to the EEO-1
Report, EEOC encourages deference to the employee’s self-identification.
Diversity Programs
Employers that embrace diversity are likely to build morale, retain employees, and
increase productivity. Through training, employers can encourage workers to appre-
ciate the differences between themselves and their co-workers and create a work
environment that not only recognizes those differences, but leverages them as well.
Before launching any diversity initiative, it’s important to define diversity. First, make
it clear that diversity is not about affirmative action. Rather, it integrates awareness
of, and respect for, differences in the way people communicate and interact. It also
makes the organization more responsive to the continually changing demands of
the marketplace by drawing on the cultures, talents, and ideas of a broader group
of people.
A successful diversity training program encourages participants to:
Manage their minds. Employers and employees need to look at the bigger pic-
ture and embrace differences in the workforce. They should adopt a broad defini-
tion of diversity to include not only race and culture, but also gender, religion, age,
nationality, and lifestyle, for example.
Manage their words. Employees should be taught to be respectful of their co-
workers’ beliefs and practices during conversation and when telling jokes.
Manage the unspoken. Employees need to remember that gestures or nonverbal
cues that are acceptable in one culture might be offensive in another. In general,
diversity training should be conducted for all employees at least once per year, but
training for most employees doesn’t necessarily have to be intensive. Diversity
training can be a small, 5-minute update in a staff meeting.
In-depth Training for Managers

Managers, however, need more in-depth training so that they can foster team-build-
ing and encourage all workers to recognize the value of diversity. In addition, train-
ing can address any misconceptions that managers might have about diversity and

the company’s legal obligations to comply with federal Equal Employment Oppor-
tunity requirements.
Training Tips
Consider the following tips to help make diversity training for managers successful:
◆ Stay up to date on current events related to diversity and regularly update man-
agers on what you find.
◆ Study diversity initiatives implemented in other companies and explore which
techniques would be most effective in your workplace.
◆ Provide managers with tips for promoting diversity. For example, when creating
teams to work on particular projects, managers should group employees
across cultural, racial, and gender lines, giving them a reason to interact.
◆ Encourage managers to model the behavior they want employees to exhibit,
challenge stereotypical assumptions, and increase understanding about cul-
tural differences.
Measuring Success
There are several ways to measure the success of a diversity training program.
Those ways include tracking the number of complaints received and how issues
are resolved, conducting surveys, and measuring managers’ understanding of diver-
sity issues in pretraining and post-training quizzes.
Best Practice: Making the Grade

With Diversity Initiative
Diversity isn’t just a written policy statement at Educational Testing Service (ETS);
it’s a philosophy embedded into everything the company does. Not only is it impor-
tant from an HR perspective for the company to create an environment in which
every individual is respected and valued, it’s critical from a business perspective as
well.
That’s because ETS, a nonprofit organization that develops and administers
achievement and admissions tests in the United States and 180 other countries,
serves customers from diverse populations. In early 2002 the company launched its
Strategic Diversity Initiative to promote diversity among its 2,400 employees. Cur-
rently, more than one-third of hires are from underrepresented groups. This figure
has increased each year since the initiative began.
The initiative has four elements:
1. Strategic staffing. When recruiting candidates for job openings, ETS looks for
sources most likely to draw in a diverse population, such as “historically black
colleges.” But the company doesn’t just show up on campuses to recruit
minorities; it acts as a resource. For example, it will offer a workshop on fair-
ness at a conference sponsored by the Hispanic Association of Colleges and
Universities.
2. Professional and career development. Each employee has a personal
development plan that helps identify opportunities for education and advance-
ment. Through internal courses and a tuition assistance refund program for

external courses, the company helps employees expand their knowledge and
develop broader points of view.
3. Work environment. ETS strives to create an environment in which each indi-
vidual’s uniqueness is valued and each person is respected. Employee opinion
surveys confirm that the company has created a welcoming environment. Cre-
ating a place where people feel accepted and proud to work has helped ETS
attract and retain a diverse workforce and maintain a relatively low turnover
rate.
4. Leadership accountability. Although diversity is every employee’s duty at
ETS, managers have the additional responsibility of making sure that each indi-
vidual is held accountable, and all employees are treated with dignity.
In order to be accountable to, managers are expected to demonstrate three core
competencies:
1. Ability to manage diversity. Managers are responsible for treating all
employees equitably and fairly whether they hold a high school degree or a
Ph.D. and regardless of their race, age, and experiences, and for making sure
others do the same.
2. Ethics and values. Managers must ensure that employees adhere to ETS’s
core values and beliefs. They are expected to reward the right values and
address any problems.
3. Integrity and trust. ETS wants managers to be truthful individuals who can
be trusted. Managers are expected to provide support to employees who need
it and to admit their own mistakes, when necessary.
What to Do
Consider the following tips to strengthen diversity in the workforce:
◆ Position diversity as a core business value. Look at diversity as an asset to your
business.
◆ Hold individuals accountable. At a minimum, managers and other employees
should be held accountable for their actions during their annual performance
reviews. But management shouldn’t wait until an employee’s annual review to
correct inappropriate behavior. For example, if an employee tells ethnic jokes,
his or her manager should promptly explain why such behavior is unaccept-
able.
◆ Understand that you can’t change everyone. If an employee refuses to change
his or her discriminatory behavior, consider whether that person should con-
tinue working in your organization.
◆ View diversity as an ongoing process. Companies should continually look for
ways to improve their diversity programs.
English-Only Rules
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of l964 protects individuals against employment dis-
crimination based on national origin as well as race, color, religion, and sex. A rule
requiring employees to speak only English at all times on the job may violate Title
VII, unless an employer shows it is necessary for conducting business.

If an employer believes the English-only rule is critical for business purposes,
employees have to be told when they must speak English and the consequences
for violating the rule. Any negative employment decision based on breaking the
English-only rule will be considered evidence of discrimination if the employer
did not tell employees of the rule.
Accent
An employer must show a legitimate nondiscriminatory reason for the denial of
employment opportunity because of an individual’s accent or manner of speaking.
Investigations will focus on the qualifications of the person and whether his or her
accent or manner of speaking had a detrimental effect on job performance.
Requiring employees or applicants to be fluent in English may violate Title VII if
the rule is adopted to exclude individuals of a particular national origin and is not
related to job performance.
Establishing Language Requirements

As mentioned above, an employer may require that an employee be able to speak
and understand English if the requirement is based on a business necessity. For
example, a retail establishment that sells its products to English-speaking cus-
tomers may require that its salespeople are able to speak and understand English
while on the retail floor. However, a policy requiring that only English be spoken at
lunch, on breaks, or outside the workplace will be considered unlawful.
The following issues should be addressed in cases in which the employer seeks to
establish an English-only policy:
◆ Business necessity. Is there a sound business reason for establishing the pol-
icy? For example, is communication hampered between the customer and the
employee?
◆ Supervisory concerns. Are there complaints that employees are not under-
standing instructions or communicating about their productivity?
◆ Workplace safety. Are there concerns that safety problems will develop if
communication is hampered?
◆ Productivity. Are there concerns that productivity is hampered by ineffective
communication?
Tips when Establishing an English-Only Policy

When establishing an English-only policy, an employer should be sure the policy is
justified by business necessity. Guidelines issued by EEOC provide examples of a
business necessity that would justify an English-only policy:
◆ For communications with customers, co-workers, or supervisors who speak
only English
◆ In emergencies or other situations in which workers must speak a common
language to promote safety
◆ For cooperative work assignments in which the English-only rule is needed to
promote efficiency
◆ To enable a supervisor who speaks only English to monitor the performance
of an employee whose job duties require communication with co-workers or
customers

In addition, employers should:
◆ Meet with employees to explain the policy requirements and the conse-
quences of violating the policy.
◆ Limit the English-only policy to times when it is justified by a business neces-
sity—i.e., native language communications should not be prohibited during
breaks or meal periods.
◆ Enforce the rule consistently and fairly; e.g., don’t allow some employees to
speak in their native language and not others.
As a practical matter, an employer should give its employees reasonable advance
notice—in English and in their native language—before enforcing a newly estab-
lished English-only rule. Many employers also allow a grace period before disci-
plining employees under a new policy. It is often very difficult to change language
habits, and therefore, employees may inadvertently violate the rule when it is first
enacted.
#10 HR for the Future
According to recent government statistics, human resources, training, and labor

relations managers and specialists hold about 820,000 jobs in the United States.
Government projections show that overall employment of human resources, train-
ing, and labor relations managers and specialists is expected to grow faster than
the average for all occupations through the year 2014.
This is good news for HR professionals. However, HR professionals will continue to
be challenged by the driving need to develop professionally, to stay up to date with
legal and other HR-related information, and to continue to increase their credibil-
ity in the workforce.
Education and the Human Resources Profession

Unlike many professions, there are no specific academic requirements for the
human resources manager. However, most employers prefer that candidates have
at least a bachelor’s degree. Once an HR professional begins his or her career, con-
tinuing professional education is critical, particularly because standards for
employment are in a constant state of change.
There are a multitude of degrees and courses that could be taken to prepare for
and enrich a profession in human resources. Consider the following suggestions
for courses of study in HR:
1. Core programs. Many colleges and universities have programs leading to a
degree in personnel, human resources, or labor relations. Some offer degree
programs in human resources administration or human resources manage-
ment, training and development, or compensation and benefits. Depending on
the school, courses leading to a career in human resources management may
be found in departments of business administration, education, instructional
technology, organizational development, human services, communication, or

public administration, or within a separate human resources institution or
department.
2. Additional courses. Because an interdisciplinary background is appropriate
in this field, a combination of courses in the social sciences, business, and
behavioral sciences is useful. Some jobs may require a more technical or spe-
cialized background in engineering, science, finance, or law, for example. Most
prospective human resources specialists should take courses in compensation,
recruitment, training and development, and performance appraisal, as well as
courses in principles of management, organizational structure, and industrial
psychology. Other relevant courses include business administration, public
administration, psychology, sociology, political science, economics, and statistics.
3. Specialists. Courses in labor law, collective bargaining, labor economics, labor
history, and industrial psychology provide a valuable background for the
prospective labor relations specialist. A background in law is also desirable for
employee benefits managers and others who must interpret the growing num-
ber of laws and regulations. As in many other fields, knowledge of computers
and information systems is also useful. An advanced degree is increasingly
important for some jobs.
4. Labor relations. Many labor relations jobs require graduate study in indus-
trial or labor relations. A strong background in industrial relations and law is
highly desirable for contract negotiators, mediators, and arbitrators; in fact,
many people in these specialties are lawyers.
5. Management positions. A master’s degree in human resources, labor rela-
tions, or in business administration with a concentration in human resources
management is highly recommended for those seeking general and top man-
agement positions. For many specialized jobs in the human resources field,
previous experience is an asset; for more advanced positions, including as
managers as well as arbitrators and mediators, it is essential.
Professional Certificate Programs

Many colleges and universities offer continuing education programs leading to a
certificate instead of a degree. A certificate of competency might make good sense
for an HR professional who is already holding a master’s degree but who wants to
learn more or increase his or her level of expertise in a specific area of study.
Most organizations specializing in human resources offer classes intended to
enhance the marketable skills of their members. Some organizations offer certifica-
tion programs, which are signs of competence and can enhance one’s advance-
ment opportunities. For example, the following certifications are offered:
◆ Human Resources Certification Institute Professional in Human Resources
(PHR)
◆ Human Resources Certification Institute Senior Professional in Human
Resources (SPHR)
◆ Human Resources Certification Institute Certified Compensation Professional
(CCP)
◆ WorldatWork Certified Benefits Professional (CBP)
◆ WorldatWork Certified Employee Benefits Specialist (CEBS)

◆ International Foundation of Employment Benefits Plans International Person-
nel Management Association—Certified Professional (IPMA-CP)
◆ Internal Personnel Management Association International Personnel Manage-
ment—Certified Specialist (IPMA-CS)
◆ Internal Personnel Management Association Human Performance Improve-
ment Certificate (HPI)
◆ American Society of Training and Development Certified Training Professional
(CTP)
Professional HR Associations
As with most professions, networking is a primary means of HR professional devel-
opment. Attending organized events held by professional associations should play
a role in business networking and professional development. Regular attendance
at the same professional association’s meetings and other activities will create a
stronger networking bond. If not currently networking in associations or other
groups within their industry, HR professionals should consider becoming active in
an industry group, joining the Chamber of Commerce or a civic group, attending a
regional or national HR conference or trade show, and interacting with their pro-
fessional peers.
The following are just a few of the premier associations for HR professionals:
◆ Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM); http://www.shrm.org
◆ American Society of Training and Development (ASTD); http://www.astd.org
◆ International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans (IFEBP);
◆ WorkatWork; http://www.worldatwork.org.
Professional Development: The Future of HR

According to job growth projections made by the U.S. Department of Labor, legisla-
tion and court rulings setting standards in various areas—occupational safety and
health, equal employment opportunity, wages, health care, pensions, and family
leave, among others—will increase demand for human resources, training, and
labor relations experts.
Rising healthcare costs should continue to spur demand for specialists to develop
creative compensation and benefits packages that firms can offer prospective
employees. Employment of labor relations staff, including arbitrators and media-
tors, should grow as firms become more involved in labor relations and attempt to
resolve potentially costly labor-management disputes out of court.
Need for Specialists Will Grow

Additional job growth may stem from increasing demand for specialists in interna-
tional human resources management and human resources information systems.
Demand may be particularly strong for certain specialists. For example, employers
are expected to devote greater resources to job-specific training programs in
response to the increasing complexity of many jobs, the aging of the workforce, and
technological advances that can leave employees with obsolete skills. This should
result in strong demand for training and development specialists. In addition,

increasing efforts throughout industry to recruit and retain quality employees
should create many jobs for employment, recruitment, and placement specialists.
Look to Management, Consulting, and Employment Services

Firms involved in management, consulting, and employment services should offer
many job opportunities as businesses increasingly contract out human resources
functions or hire human resources specialists on a temporary basis in order to
deal with the increasing cost and complexity of training and development pro-
grams. Demand also should increase in firms that develop and administer com-
plex employee benefits and compensation packages for other organizations.
Demand for human resources, training, and labor relations managers and special-
ists also are governed by the staffing needs of the firms for which they work. A rap-
idly expanding business is likely to hire additional human resources workers—
either as permanent employees or consultants—while a business that has experi-
enced a merger or a reduction in its workforce will require fewer human resources
workers.
Beware of HR Tasking and Outsourcing

As human resources management becomes increasingly important to the success
of an organization, some small- and medium-sized businesses that do not have a
human resources department may assign employees various human resources
duties together with other unrelated responsibilities.
In any particular firm, the size and the job duties of the human resources staff are
determined by the firm’s organizational philosophy and goals, skills of its work-
force, pace of technological change, government regulations, collective bargaining
agreements, standards of professional practice, and labor market conditions. Job
growth could be limited by the widespread use of computerized human resources
information systems that make workers more productive. Like that of other workers,
employment of human resources, training, and labor relations managers and spe-
cialists, particularly in larger firms, may be adversely affected by corporate down-
sizing, restructuring, and mergers.
Conclusion
We hope that you have enjoyed this special report and that you found the informa-
tion contained in this report useful. BLR strives to provide human resources profes-
sionals with practical and easy-to-use information on a wide variety of topics. If
you would like to see the complete library of publications available through BLR,
please visit our website at www.blr.com or call our Customer Service department
at 800-727-5257.

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SPECIAL REPORT

A supplement to BLR publications

Prepared for the HR Daily Advisor

Top 10 Best Practices in HR Management for 2007

#1 Controlling Healthcare Costs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

#3 Technology, Security, and Legal Liability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

#4 Hiring and Retention . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

#9 Managing a Diverse Workforce . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

#10 HR for the Future . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

©Business & Legal Reports, Inc. 30610800

#1 Controlling Healthcare Costs

©Business & Legal Reports, Inc. 30610800 1

2 Top 10 Best Practices in HR Management for 2007

Beware of Legal Land Mines

©Business & Legal Reports, Inc. 30610800 3

Cutting Program Costs

4 Top 10 Best Practices in HR Management for 2007

©Business & Legal Reports, Inc. 30610800 5

Best Practice: Saving with Disease Management

Can Disease Management Work for Smaller Employers?

Caution: Don’t Go It Alone

Preventing Healthcare Fraud and Related Costs

6 Top 10 Best Practices in HR Management for 2007

It is a perennial challenge—HR professionals on the quest for information regard-

How to Comply with Requirements

©Business & Legal Reports, Inc. 30610800 7

Managing the EEO-1 Report’s New Job Categories

8 Top 10 Best Practices in HR Management for 2007

Tracking Race and Ethnicity Category Changes

©Business & Legal Reports, Inc. 30610800 9

The Pension Protection Act of 2006

Pension Plan Protection

Defined Contribution Plans

10 Top 10 Best Practices in HR Management for 2007

Changes to Plan Structure.

©Business & Legal Reports, Inc. 30610800 11

Exclusion for Specific Diseases

12 Top 10 Best Practices in HR Management for 2007

Effect on Wellness Plans

Wellness Programs That Comply

©Business & Legal Reports, Inc. 30610800 13

#3 Technology, Security, and

Best Practice: Internet Policy Planning

14 Top 10 Best Practices in HR Management for 2007

Electronic Records and Litigation

©Business & Legal Reports, Inc. 30610800 15

16 Top 10 Best Practices in HR Management for 2007

Best Practice: Camera Phone Policy Planning

Best Practice: Blogging Policy Planning

©Business & Legal Reports, Inc. 30610800 17

18 Top 10 Best Practices in HR Management for 2007

Identity Theft Law Requires Employer Compliance

Protection as an Employee Benefit

Best Practice: How to Protect Your Employees

Balance Employees’ Privacy Concerns

©Business & Legal Reports, Inc. 30610800 19

#4 Hiring and Retention

Developing a Hiring Strategy

Match Your Strategy to Your Company

20 Top 10 Best Practices in HR Management for 2007