19th Annual HR Law & Solutions Seminar: Spotlight on Guest Speaker Paul Macleish

Posted on February 24, 2011 by Suzanne M. Boy

We are very close to opening registration for the 19th Annual HR Law & Solutions seminar and we couldn't be more excited!  We have a lot of great things planned this year, including, for the first time, TWO guest speakers.  The first, Paul Macleish, is profiled below.  We will profile the second guest speaker in the coming weeks. 

Our first guest speaker, Paul Macleish, is originally from the Scottish border.  Paul is a seasoned human resource professional, leadership coach, facilitator, author and motivational speaker. Paul created Achieve Leadership,® a company which specializes in creating and sustaining a culture of leadership excellence through sound business practices, good people skills, human resource best practices and great mentorship, development and guidance. 

Paul is an authority on the subject of developing world-class leaders to meet the challenges of today and the vision of tomorrow.   He was involved in the leadership development performance excellence strategies at Walt Disney World®, which helped transform the Disney® culture to a culture of high leadership performance and accountability.

Paul's presentation "Becoming a True Strategic Partner" will help attendees:

  • understand why they need to become strategic partners
  • understand how to identify key business needs that will help align participants as a strategic partner
  • build an awareness of influencing skills and how to build alliances in the workplace
  • understand the importance of the company vision, mission and goals and how to use them on a daily basis
  • understand how to have a greater strategic impact with your boss, team and peers and elevate your professional reputation within the workplace.

Check back next week for registration, and for a very exciting announcement about the HRCI credits that will be available to attendees this year.  Make sure to register early, as last year we were near full capacity with 280 attendees.  Thank you so much for your continued support, and we look forward to seeing you all Tuesday, April 26, 2011.

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Free Webcast on Retirement Savings Options for Small Businesses

Posted on February 21, 2011 by Suzanne M. Boy

I thought this might be of interest to our many small business clients:

The U.S. Department of Labor is offering a free webcast on retirement savings options for small businesses and plan providers this Wednesday, February 23.  Check out the press release here.

The webcast, which takes place from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. EST, will focus on retirement savings options ranging from simplified employee pensions (SEPs) and savings incentive match plans to the more complex 401(k) plan.  The DOL hopes the webcast will provide practical information to help participants understand and compare plan options, and provide tips to help small businesses start and operate these plans.

Interested?  Register online at http://www.dol.gov/ebsa.  You can also find additional information on retirement plan solutions on the Employee Benefits Security Administration's website.

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Proposal to Reduce Unemployment Benefits in Florida

Posted on February 18, 2011 by Suzanne M. Boy

The Florida Legislature is considering a change to unemployment benefits that would, for the first time in a long while, favor the employer and not the employee.  If passed, the measure would reduce unemployment compensation from 26 weeks to 20 weeks.  It would also deny benefits for employee misconduct and force employees to accept any offer that paid as much as their unemployment benefit once the worker has been out of work for more than 12 weeks.  Marcia Heroux Pounds of the Sun-Sentinel wrote an article earlier this week detailing the proposed changes and reactions from both sides.  Find her article here. 

While this change will not be received well by the many laid-off workers in Florida (Florida's unemployment rate was 12% in December 2010), it is the first proposed change I can remember in a long while that might actually favor employers.  If the bill passes, it will be interesting to see how the Agency for Workforce Innovation implements some of the less concrete policies, such the denial of benefits for misconduct.  Anyone who has dealt with an unemployment claim, at least in the recent past, knows how heavily it is tilted in favor of the employee -- absent a case of flagrantly gross "misconduct" the employee almost always receives benefits. 

In any event, it will be interesting to see if this bill evens the playing field in that regard.  We will keep you posted as the bill makes its way through the Legislature.

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