The new Apple iPhone is finally here. For bleeding edge technology buffs with $500-750 burning a hole in their pocket I say go for it. Test it out. Let me know how it works and when all the bugs are worked out and it costs $299 I’ll still pass. I’m simply one of the few holdouts that look upon this technology as a ‘leash and collar’ that straps us to work 24/7 and is fast afflicting a generation of workers with the so-called ‘CrackBerry’ addiction. The term CrackBerry is a play on words merging the predominant wireless email device brand, BlackBerry and the highly addictive illicit street drug, crack). The lure of wireless devices is creating an addiction among some e-mail users, with experts comparing their behavior to that of drug or alcohol abusers. Afflicted users soon become conditioned to constantly have their antennae tuned in to hear the sound that tells them they have a new message which validates that they are indispensable and the need to respond immediately is vitally important. But the problem may not just be the 'users'. It may also be the employers if they provide the mobile email device and expect an employee to be connected and available at all hours. If being connected to employees 24/7 sounds like an employer's dream come true, think again: according to a Rutgers University Camden researcher, employers who encourage non-stop work connections via technology may wind up with liability for encouraging addiction among their staff.

As the fire season gets underway across the nation, we inform you that the United States House of Representatives has passed a bill requiring employers to provide unpaid leave to workers who volunteer as fire fighters and emergency medical workers. The bill requires leave of up to fourteen days when such persons are responding to major emergencies or disasters. Employers may ask for verification of the emergency response. The legislative measure now goes to the Senate.

What day is this? It's been somewhat of a blur. I can't believe these past 4 days in Las Vegas at the 59th Annual SHRM Conference and Exposition have passed so quickly. It's been a rewarding experience both from a marketing and an HR practitioner point of view. I met and talked to hundreds of people and had many interesting and enlightening conversations on the topics of employee performance management and compensation administration. If you haven't been to a SHRM conference I highly recommend it. The entire management, organization, content and scheduling of the event was first rate. The energy of the attendees was contagious. I spent the majority of my time walking the tradeshow floor and meeting people while in the HRN booth. Here are a few of my more 'expo-centric' observations.

Some employers use consumer reports or credit checks in considering applicants for employment or when evaluating current employees for promotion, transfer, or termination. However there are considerable federal (e.g., the Fair Credit Reporting Act—FCRA) and sometimes stricter state legal requirements that must be met when using such reports.

As healthcare insurance costs continue to skyrocket, benefit administrators are searching for ways stop the bleeding from company coffers while still offering employees affordable coverage options. This frequently results in a company changing insurance carriers every couple of years. The result has been employees are often asked to choose from an ever increasing array of completely different, and wide ranging healthcare plan choices. HMO, PPO, HSA, HRA, PCP, in network, out of network, formulary, co-pay, deductibles, etc., there are now so many choices and considerations that effectively communicating information so employees can make informed decisions is the top open enrollment challenge HR administrators face today. Simply put, the more choices, the more information needs to be communicated to employees. You would think that given the importance to both the personal bank account and the welfare of ourselves and our dependents that taking the time to read and understand HR provided healthcare benefit info would be a priority during the open enrollment period. Guess again. Most employees - 63% - spend 30 minutes or less to make benefits decisions, and spend about 0.8 hours to research their options before buying - compared to 6.8 hours for a car and 1.3 for shoes (source: MetLife).

The cleanliness of the office refrigerator and kitchen (or lack thereof) tends to prompt a lot of comments by employees. Most of us think that it’s “the others” who are the slobs. But just how clean is your desk?

There could be a whole new type of employment lawsuit looming over the horizon. Legislation has been introduced in several states that would allow employees to sue who have been subject to bullying, demeaning behavior, yelling at, or otherwise abused by their managers.

That’s right; HRN will be an exhibitor at the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) 59th Annual Conference and Exposition taking place in Las Vegas, NV June 24-26, 2007. In addition to making a key Performance Pro product announcement HRN product experts, along with yours truly, will be on hand to deliver product demonstrations, distribute literature, and answer questions regarding our various human resources performance management, compensation administration, and HR compliance products. If you are attending SHRM, plan to stop by and visit with us at booth #1021.

Caring for an aging population is growing more difficult. We are living longer. Many older Americans can no longer rely on sons and daughters for end of life care. An awful lot of baby boomers will be needing a lot of home health care in the next few years. Who will care for this rapidly growing segment of our population? Many of us who will be unable to care for ourselves as we age will be cared for by home care providers. Who are these people? They’re generally female, many times minorities, and typically not paid a lot above minimum wage. And, if they’ve met the companionship exemption of the Fair Labor Standards Act, they’ve been exempt from minimum wage and overtime payments. That exemption was challenged by a long time caregiver in the case of Long Island Care at Home, Ltd. v. Coke, recently decided by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Just in time for Father’s Day . . . I was reading on cnn.com yesterday morning that according to a new CareerBuilder.com survey: 37% of working dads would quit if their spouse or partner could support the family. Another 38% say they would take a pay cut to spend more time with their kids. 36% say their job does not offer flexible arrangements like telecommuting. Nearly one in four (24 percent) working dads feel work is negatively impacting their relationship with their children. 48% have missed a significant event in their child's life due to work at least once in the last year and nearly one in five (18 percent) have missed four or more. More than one in four (27 percent) working dads say they spend more than 50 hours a week on work and nearly one in 10 (8 percent) spend more than 60 hours. In terms of the time they spend with their children, one in four (25 percent) working dads spend less than one hour with their kids each day.

A couple of sentences in two employers’ employee handbooks seemed innocent enough. The first one involved confidentiality: “We honor confidentiality. We recognize and protect the confidentiality of any information concerning the company, its business plans, its partners [i.e., employees], new business efforts, customers, accounting and financial matters.”

If you haven’t been confused about the Computer Exemptions under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) you may be the only one. The FLSA exemption tests, used to determine who must be paid overtime (nonexempt) and who doesn’t (exempt employees), have confused most of us for a long time. The FLSA was passed in 1938 and has had a hard time keeping pace with the world in the last 70 years. Positions that didn’t exist in the 1930s are particularly hard to classify, with computer jobs being especially troublesome.