Category: Blog For Businesses

Dear Atty., Can My Employee Take Maternity Leave Before The Baby Is Born?

  Dear Attorney: We have an employee who is in the final weeks of her pregnancy. She is healthy and has no medical complications as a result of the pregnancy. She recently approached me and asked if she could take a couple of weeks off prior to the expected due date to get her apartment […]

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Top 5 Reasons to Hire Quickly

  There is a common mentality in the hiring industry: hire slowly so that you can take your time to find the right candidate! This may work in certain situations, but for the most part, hiring slowly can cause a myriad of problems. Here are the top 5 reasons to hire quickly. Top candidates find […]

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Dear Atty., Do I Legally Have To Pay My Staff Overtime?

Dear Attorney: I own a small manufacturing company. Our facility is divided into several departments and I employ “Department Managers” to oversee production in those departments. These managers also supervise several employees each. The manager’s work hours vary from week to week; some weeks they will work less than 40 hours while other weeks they […]

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Drake & Company Celebrates International Women’s Day

In honor of International Women’s Day, I asked our CEO, Kelly Starr-King three questions. Here are her insightful answers. 1) Why is gender parity important in the workplace?   “Balance within an office in gender, race, nationality, etc. brings strengths from all directions and that lends to a stronger team, whereas an imbalance can lead to […]

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Dear Atty., 8 Things Employers Do Illegally

Dear Attorney: As a faithful reader of this column, I know that most people write in with specific situations that they want you to address. My question is a little different. Given that you advise employers for a living, I am curious if there are certain mistakes that are commonly made by employers. For example, […]

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Dear Atty., How Do I Stop Employees From Recording Our Meetings

Dear Attorney: I am the HR Manager for my company. These days, it seems as though everyone has a cell phone that is capable of making audio and video recordings. This is creating a problem in our workplace. For example, we hold weekly staff meetings so that employees can share problems in the workplace and […]

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Dear Atty., How Do I Handle A Holiday Party, Alcohol and Sexual Discrimination

Dear Attorney: I am in charge of planning our company’s holiday party. The owner of the company told me that he wants this year’s party to be, “better than ever” but then added that he wants to make sure that the company doesn’t get into any trouble. Please help. What types of issues should I […]

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How To Attract The Best Employees For Your Business

  In order to attract and keep the best employees, your company has to stand out. Here are some tips and tricks that you can use to increase the caliber of your future employees. Demonstrate a Great Work Culture Having a great corporate culture gives potential employees reasons other than the actual job description to […]

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Dear Atty., Did I Discriminate During A Job Interview?

Dear Attorney: I own a business located here in Madison. A couple of weeks ago I was interviewing a candidate for a customer service position. A couple of minutes into the interview, the candidate went off on a rant about how she is an atheist and started questioning my company’s practices regarding time off for […]

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The Benefits of Direct Hire

In the past, we have covered the difference between the types of job placement options offered by staffing firms. Each company has different needs that determine if a temporary, temp-to-hire or direct hire position is right for an organization, with each type of placement offering a variety of benefits. A direct hire through a staffing […]

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