DEAR READERS: Before you accuse me of legal malpractice, take a look at tomorrow's date.  

Habit 1: Discriminate, retaliate, harass -- have a ball! There's a new sheriff in town, with a more employer-friendly, compliance-assistance-oriented U.S. Department of Labor (we think) and the nullification of burdensome regulations like the gone-and-not-lamented Fair Pay and Safe ...

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has delayed for a second time the enforcement date of its new "Reasonable Reporting Procedure" rule as it pertains to post-accident drug testing and safety incentive programs. The new enforcement date for the rule is December 1.

The rule was scheduled to take effect on August 10, and then OSHA extended the ...

What a week for aging. According to one study, people age 65 and older will outnumber people age 15 and younger worldwide by the year 2030. This is referred to as a "population plague."

In more bad news for younger older people, Lydia DePillis, writing for The Washington Post, had an article titled "Baby boomers are taking on ageism -- and losing." From what I could tell, her ...

No more pencils, no more books, no more teacher's dirty looks . . . except for one little quiz on employment law issues that come up during the summer.

Chanukah starts at sundown this Sunday, and Christmas is only three short weeks away. Can you throw a workplace holiday party that won't result in a lawsuit? It has been ages since we've had a quiz. Let's do it!

For more on this topic, please listen to the webinar on holiday parties that I did yesterday with Laura Kerekes and the excellent people at ThinkHR. The replay is available here.

Yeah, yeah - I know it isn't even Thanksgiving yet, but you are planning your holiday party now, and you want answers to your burning questions while you still have time to do something about it.

And, as luck would have it, I presented a webinar on Wednesday with David Weisenfeld of XpertHR on "How to Make Your Workplace Holiday Party Sparkle -- With No Legal Hangovers," and got some great ...

An article by Lauren Weber and Rachel Feintzeig in Tuesday's Wall Street Journal caught a lot of attention -- it was about companies that have made the decision to do without a Human Resources function.

The idea drew some positive response on Twitter:

HR stifles innovation and bogs down businesses with inefficient policies and processes. http://t.co/5cGRIwHaxR

— Mike Brice ...

We're already into the seventh day of Chanaukkah, and Christmas is only eight short shopping days away ("I've gotta get that football helmet!"), so it must be time for a post on how employers should handle the holidays in the workplace.

Suzanne Lucas of The Evil HR Lady has a depressing-but-funny post about the lamest employee Christmas gifts ever.

And, only slightly off-topic, you may ...

I was off enjoying the Florida sunshine last weekend while learning the latest techniques in pettifoggery and obfuscation (kidding!), but I hope I'll be making up for it today with a good case answering the musical question: "What does an employer do when it finds out that its employee on 'medical leave' is actually doing stuff?" You know, like working another job, or hanging out at the gun ...

A couple of interesting gems I got this week from other people (thanks, you guys!):

Pro hac vice statements defeat summary judgment! A federal judge in North Carolina denied summary judgment to a law firm who was sued by an associate for wrongful discharge based on race. Although the law firm's evidence showed that the associate was a poor performer, the judge found that statements made ...