On the recent uproar involving a major, major employer and its recently-terminated employee:

No. 1. Is it a good idea to provide an "open forum" to employees if there are certain topics that are off limits? No. If you want to provide a forum for employees to speak up, but only "within reason," then it's a good idea to establish and communicate your limits in advance. That way, if ...

Just one calorie - not evil enough.

Satanic heavy-metal band Ghost is at risk of having its "evil mystique" ruined by some mundane employment-related disputes with former members of the band, according to an article in The Wall Street Journal. Since WSJ articles are behind a paywall, here is an excerpt:

Ghost, a Swedish heavy-metal band, built a cult following over a decade using demonic ...

President Trump announced yesterday that he would be naming his nominee for the U.S. Supreme Court next week. The nominee, if confirmed, will fill the seat vacated by the late Justice Antonin Scalia.

According to most news sources, the three leading contenders are U.S. Court of Appeals Judges William Pryor (Eleventh Circuit), Neil Gorsuch (Tenth Circuit), and Thomas Hardiman ...

The Senate confirmation hearing for Andrew Puzder, President-Elect Trump's nominee for Secretary of Labor, will reportedly take place this Wednesday, January 12. (UPDATE (1/10/17): According to Politico, Mr. Puzder's confirmation hearing will now take place on Tuesday, January 17.) Mr. Puzder's nomination is vigorously opposed by employee advocates, unions, and ...

Being part of the "in" crowd with the FBI apparently does not protect you from the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs.

To the contrary: It was an FBI contract that subjected a California-based technology company to an OFCCP review that has resulted in an administrative complaint.

Palantir Technologies is a large government contractor with more than $340 ...

Vice President Joe Biden is expected to announce the official release of the U.S. Department of Labor's new overtime rule this afternoon in an appearance at Jeni's Splendid Ice Cream in Columbus, Ohio. I'll post the rule, which will change the white-collar overtime exemptions to the Fair Labor Standards Act, as soon as it's available. Meanwhile, the DOL has already released the ...

Argh! I was hoping not to have to talk about HB 2 again (North Carolina's notorious "bathroom bill"), but there has been so much misinformation about what it did to wrongful discharge claims that I've just gotta.

UPDATE (6:20 p.m. Friday, 4/8/16): I had a good conversation this evening with Greg Lacour of Charlotte Magazine about his article. We agreed that his article did not ...

They'll be sorry . . . 

Marriage therapists are now advocating the use of "performance reviews" by spouses, according to an article in Monday's Wall Street Journal. "By taking time to regularly evaluate and review their relationship together," reporter Elizabeth Bernstein says, "partners can recognize what is and isn't working -- and identify goals for improvement -- long before ...

Should an employee performance review be one big love letter?

Maybe so, according to Rachel Feintzeig, who wrote in Tuesday's Wall Street Journal, "Everything Is Awesome! Why You Can't Tell Employees They're Doing a Bad Job." The idea is that many employers are getting away from providing constructive criticism in performance reviews and are "accentuating the positive."

My ...

I was disappointed earlier this week to see a consultant quoted in an otherwise good article in the Wall Street Journal -- "Employee Theft Often Leads Small Firms to Make Bad Choices" -- as advising the "bogus RIF" strategy with employees who are suspected of theft.

Talk about bad choices!

What's the "bogus RIF" strategy? That's when you're really firing an employee but don't want to ...