Wage-and-hour compliance has even greater urgency in light of the Department of Labor's recent, stepped-up Fair Labor Standards Act enforcement efforts, which include a toll-free attorney referral hotline and a new smartphone app, but employers can answer technology with technology, according to HR payroll and benefit consultant Ceridian. Read more

The Dept. of Defense, General Services Administration, and National Aeronautics and Space Administration have adopted as final, without change, an interim rule implementing the required posting of Notification of Employee Rights Under Federal Labor Laws for federal contractors. Read more

A National Labor Relations Board Administrative Law Judge has found that a non-profit organization in New York unlawfully discharged five employees after they posted comments on Facebook concerning working conditions, including work load and staffing issues. Read more

The White House has announced the plans of 30 federal agencies identifying initiatives to reduce burdens on businesses and save money. Read more

Extra games and wider access to coverage of the NCAA men’s basketball championship on smart phones and tablets could increase workplace distractions that threaten to sap employee productivity during the annual three-week long tournament, according to global outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc. It estimates that total online viewership during work hours is likely to reach at least 8.4 million hours during this year’s tournament, which begins with special qualifying games on Tuesday, March 15. Read more

In analyzing whether social networking is a productivity tool or a work distraction, Deloitte examines the issue from the perspective of three key business sectors — life sciences (healthcare), human capital and retail, and concludes that business productivity can be increased if planned correctly. Read more

The National Business Group on Health, a non-profit association of more than 300 large U.S. employers, is launching a major, three-year initiative to help employers address what it says is a growing healthcare challenge—cancer in the workplace. Read more

In conjunction with its Distracted Driving Initiative, the Occupational Safety & Health Administration has posted a Distracted Driver Model Policy for employers. Read more

Funded by the U.S. Department of Justice Office on Violence Against Women, The Workplaces Respond to Domestic and Sexual Violence: A National Resource Center website offers information for the benefit of employers who want to provide effective workplace responses to victims of domestic violence, sexual violence, dating violence and stalking. Read more

Only 11 percent of U.S. employers award cost of living adjustments to employees, according to recent data gathered by WorldatWork from members employed in the HR, compensation and benefits departments of mostly large U.S. corporations. Read more

On January 28, the National Labor Relations Board issued a decision holding that four company policies restrict employee rights under the NLRA. Read more

With more than three-quarters of companies using social media for business purposes and almost half allowing employees to use social media for non-business activities, a new report from global law firm Proskauer recommends corporate best practices for navigating the challenges of social media usage in the workplace. Read more

Companies are a little more lenient today when it comes to letting employees shop online during business hours, a new survey by Robert Half Technology suggests. Only one-third (33 percent) of chief information officers interviewed by the staffing firm said their companies block access to online shopping sites – down from 60 percent in 2011. Read more

Abercrombie & Fitch Co. is asked by U.S. Civil Rights Commissioner Michael Yaki to conduct an immediate, public review of its diversity and cultural awareness programs in the wake of allegedly racist incidents involving its models at the opening of a Hollister store in South Korea. Read more

Facing growing pressures to deliver HR services more efficiently and effectively, an increasing number of global organizations expect to change the structure of their HR functions within the next couple of years, according to the 2012 HR Service Delivery and Technology Survey Report, the 15th annual Towers Watson survey on HR service delivery trends and practices. Read more