Blog

Everyone likes to have a little fun in the workplace. However, even well-intentioned jokes can go sideways. Often, we don’t know about others’ sensitivities, life experiences, hidden disabilities, or phobias. Jokes and pranks tend to bring these out into the open. 

Every employer wants to attract and retain the best workers. There are several ways to accomplish this, such as writing effective job descriptions, offering competitive wages and benefits, and providing career development opportunities. But what about providing a safe workplace? A positive safety culture is another...

More than 45 years after the passage of the Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA), pregnant and nursing employees still face challenges in the workplace. This is particularly true in professions that require physical activities that may pose difficulty to employees during some stages of pregnancy. Likewise, nursing...

The beginning of the year is a classic catalyst to “start fresh,” an opportunity to take stock and improve anything that was not optimal in the prior year. In the world of workplace safety, that might mean scrutinizing an organization’s Safety Training Program. 

Due to the pandemic, many organizations began the move to more virtual operations, which included consulting engagements. With the pandemic mostly behind us, employers continue to revise standards for what their workforce will look like moving forward. Although your workplace may now have resumed in-person or...

Independent contractors are integral to businesses. They are used to provide specific skills or experience, assist with limited-scope projects or initiatives, address a remote work arrangement, or transition an employee toward retirement. But, businesses that improperly classify workers as independent contractors...

The new year is a welcome time to take stock and refresh management practices. With staffing challenges and knowledge that positive employee relations are crucial to retaining employees, managers everywhere may be thinking, “what can I do to best support and retain employees, both for their success and for the...

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) requires many employers with 11 or more employees to follow recordkeeping requirements, recording serious work-related injuries and illnesses on their OSHA 300 Log. These recordkeeping requirements aim to collect work-related injury and illness data...

Washington Labor and Industries’ Stay-at-Work (SAW) program is an incentive program that reimburses employers for providing light duty accommodations to their injured workers. There is no cost for employers to participate in the SAW program, so this is a major opportunity for organizations to recoup some of their...

With 2023 on the horizon, it’s awe-inspiring to reflect on last year’s accomplishments and, more so, how the way we work has forever changed since 2020. What started as a few weeks at home to protect employees from a new virus has revolutionized how we do business and employees approach work. In turn, employee...