Those two people are the CFO and the CHRO. True, that. In his new book, Talent Wins, Dominic Barton of McKinsey & Co. and his co-authors argue that for a company to truly thrive, HR needs to be front and center. Why? It is HR’s role to identify, hire and nurture the top talent that will ultimately drive organizational success. It’s high time the CHRO gets not only a seat at the table, but the corner office next to the CEO. Quartz at Work
HR People + Strategy held its annual conference in Scottsdale this week, and brought together an extraordinary lineup of keynotes: Josh Bersin, founder of Bersin Deloitte; Jonathan Mildenhall and Mark Levy of Airbnb; Ian Gover, co-founder of Everwise. One who really caught our eye was Leena Nair, whose Thriving in an Upside Down World presentation received a standing ovation. We connected with a lot of what Leena said, particularly her comments about HR people needing to get out in front of investors. #HROI Spotlight. Her presentation is not available. Best we can do is suggest you follow her on twitter. Follow Unilever’s Leena Nair
A New Jersey judge signed a bill into law this week making the Garden State’s pay equity laws among the strongest in the nation. Equal pay for equal work, period, unless there are seniority or merit-based reasons for the disparity. That’s not unusual. What is, is the penalty if employers aren’t in compliance. Employees can sue for up to six years of back pay and triple damages. NoHR Dive doubt HR departments in Jersey are on high alert right now.
Note to employers: When an employee misses work because of an emergency related to a disability, it’s a really bad (and expensive) move to fire that employee because of it. Macy’s found that out the hard way this week when it was ordered to pay $75,000 to a longtime employee who got fired because Macy’s wouldn’t excuse a one-day absence when the employee had to go to the ER to deal with complications of asthma. She phoned Macy’s before going to the hospital and provided documentation of the visit. Macy’s still refused to excuse the absence and fired the employee. A clear violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act. National Law Review
From the “Now We’ve Heard Everything” file, a skeptical USPS supervisor uncovered the fact that an employee, a 25-year veteran who had taken 112 days of sick leave for cancer treatment, didn’t have cancer at all. The smoking gun(s): Doctor notes with misspellings. A manager became suspicious, USPS looked into it, and found the employee wasn’t a patient at any of the facilities she named. Not only did she lose her job, but she was indicted by a federal grand jury on felony counts of intending to defraud the U.S. government. Takeaway? Empower managers to follow up if they’re suspicious about leave requests, but, as Macy’s will tell you, stay within the law. HR Morning
