The straight line

Taking costs out of a business can be deceptively easy to do — at least initially. Cutting low-hanging fruit such as providing coffee in break rooms, consulting services, laying off temporary employees or removing a layer of management can result in considerable savings. However, these savings are often not sustainable. Slowly but surely, decisions will be...

Despite the popularity of e-marketing, direct mail still works for many companies. How well it works depends on a number of variables. It’s a game of percentages. Here are six tips to help improve your company’s odds: Remember that “Direct” Is the Operative Word. A key advantage of direct mail versus traditional advertising to a mass audience...

Social media sites such as Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube and blogs can be powerful business tools. But they also carry risks, including inadvertently disclosing corporate trade secrets or engaging in behavior that can harm your company’s reputation. These concerns, combined with obligations to maintain confidentiality and worries about employee productivity, have prompted some businesses to block or...

The 2015 Duke University CMO Survey reports that companies spend roughly 10% of their marketing budgets on social media outlets. Although that amount is expected to more than double by 2020, most marketing professionals surveyed were unable to quantify the return on their social media spending. Social Media Examiner, a global magazine dedicated to social media...

“The Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) continues to receive numerous complaints from workers alleging misclassification, and the Department continues to bring successful enforcement actions against employers who misclassify workers,” said a detailed document issued July 15. The Administrator’s Interpretation 2015-1 is from David Weil, who heads the WHD. It elaborates on positions the...

  New guidance issued by the U.S. Department of Labor provides clarification on the definition of an independent contractor (Administrator’s Interpretation No. 2015-01). This guidance may be helpful to employers who are contemplating hiring extra workers but are concerned about all of the obligations associated with hiring employees, including health insurance, workers’ compensation, unemployment insurance, sick...