HR Stories Podcast - A Lesson in Every Story!
Welcome to the HR Stories Podcast - where there is a lesson in every story. Our Storytellers - John Thalheimer and Chuck Simikian, the Team behind HR Stories, share real-life tales about where a business made a preventable mistake. At The HR Stories Podcast, the STORIES are the teaching tool! LISTEN to the stories of those who did not heed the warning signs. LEARN from their mistakes. ACT on best practices shared by our hosts and guests. Each year, our hosts, Chuck Simikian and John Thalheimer, deliver thousands of live seminars around the country to business owners, executives, and HR professionals discussing the fundamentals of Human Resources, Leadership best practices, and legal risk reduction activities for organizations.
Each HR Story episode shares a story of where a company missed the mark, what went wrong, and how you can avoid their fate. As the Team at HR Stories, John and Chuck continue to develop and provide resources to help HR leaders, business owners, and organizations with the confidence they need to successfully handle employee issues and build strong employee practices to comply with employment laws. Both successful entrepreneurs help businesses through HR consulting, training, and coaching leaders. They have coached and trained thousands of HR Professionals, Business Owners, and Leaders to prepare them for the future.
John is the Founding Director of True Star Leadership™, which focuses on helping managers and leaders learn performance management principles. Chuck is the Founding Partner of Alliance HR Partners, which provides HR consulting and training to businesses nationwide. Together, they have over 40 years of experience navigating the challenges of HR and recently published their book, The Ultimate Guide to HR: Checklist Edition. Go to https://ultimateguidetohr.com/ for more information, download a free sample, and watch their webinar on the Secret Power Behind Successful Businesses.
Episodes
160 episodes
Ep140: Work 32 hours a week whenever works best for you!
In this week’s Hot Topics, Chuck and John talk about the following topics and more:- Companies implementing AI training across their teams- Planned salary increases for 2026 are holding steady to this year. How do we provide value f...
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Episode 140
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23:28
Ep139: Sunday Off - The Cost of Revoking a Religious Accommodation
When an employee’s request for Sundays off was approved — then revoked — it led to an EEOC case and a costly lesson in religious accommodation law. Chuck and John unpack how one scheduling change turned into a Title VII violation, what the Grof...
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Episode 139
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28:06
Ep138: Hot Topics - Workday is all in AI and Starbucks tells corporate to take their coffee to-go
Workday going all in on AI, spending astronomical amounts of money investing in AI softwares and agents. With AI not going anywhere, what risks and litigation do we open ourselves to when AI starts making business decisions.Starbucks is ...
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Episode 138
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23:53
Ep137: Q&A - I need OUT of HR!
Welcome to another Listener Q&A with The Team at HR Stories! Today's episode goes into these questions:What should you think about when creating a lactation space?How do you handle an employee talking poorly about anoth...
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Episode 137
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20:58
Ep136: Listener Q&A - Should We Pay Them? Is Hiring On Vibes Okay?
Welcome to another Listener Q&A with The Team at HR Stories! Today's episode goes into these questions:Do you have to follow the laws of where the employee is or where the company is?Is it discrimination to not invite a...
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Episode 136
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23:01
Ep135: You'll never be a manager if you keep taking medical leave.
When someone goes from star employee to being told that he will never be a manager because they used their FMLA, a legally protected leave, there’s more to the story that what the management hopes to hear. FMLA is not a employment benefit. It’s...
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Episode 135
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23:43
Ep134: Hot Topics - Perks, Racial Discrimination, & Job Hugging
Welcome to a new format from the team where they explore hot topics in the news! In today's episode Chuck and John discuss the following topics:- The unusual perks that can keep employee retention up at little cost to the company.- Crac...
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Episode 134
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19:51
Ep133: Listener Q&A - Changes to HR and State Laws
Welcome to another Listener Q&A with The Team at HR Stories! Today's episode goes into these questions:HR is constantly changing because of cultural shifts or technology. What else is influencing the HR role within the organizat...
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Episode 133
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20:22
Ep132: Off The Clock Behavior & What You Can Do About It
We've seen it in the news and around social media - someone did something controversial and they went viral for it. Next thing we hear, they've either tastefully resigned from their job or the company has issued a statement saying they do not s...
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Episode 132
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18:36
Summer School: Are you wearing shorter skirts yet?
Join Chuck and John as they go back to an episode that originally aired in May of 2021 to review the Ellerth v Burlington case. ---Kimberly Ellerth was 23, fresh out of college and recently married, when she landed a prized m...
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35:22
Summer School: I want to go to bed with you - Meritor Savings Bank v. Vinson
Join Chuck and John this week as they go back to an episode from May 27, 2021 about the case that redefined what sexual harassment can look like in the workplace. ---In this episode, our hosts John and Chuck tell the behind t...
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30:36
Ep131: Chuck Goes to SHRM!
John talks to Chuck to glean what he learned at the recent National SHRM Conference. While there was the expected hot topic of AI in human resources, there were some interesting and unexpected topics covered - particularly in the mental health ...
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26:49
Summer School: The PUMP Act
In today's summer school episode, Chuck and John revisit the cases that help us understand the importance of the PUMP act. In this week's episode, we delve into the critical yet often overlooked aspects of the PUMP Act, t...
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30:14
Summer School: Pregnancy in the Workplace Makes its Mark on the Supreme Court
Join Chuck and John as they take a trip back to June of 2023 to revisit the case of Geduldig v. Aiello - the ORIGINAL pregnancy Supreme Court case. Sylvia Aiello, was a pregnant woman who sought disability benefits under the Califor...
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23:03
Summer School: The Supreme Court Case That Defined Sexual Harassment – Meritor Savings Bank v. Vinson
This week in our Summer School series, we’re revisiting a landmark case that forever reshaped HR law and workplace culture: Meritor Savings Bank v. Vinson. Originally aired in May 2021, this powerful episode unpacks the story of Mechel...
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29:21
Summer School: Revisiting Supreme Court Cases That Changed HR - Griggs v Duke Power
Welcome to Summer School! Chuck and John are going to take you back through some of the biggest Supreme Court cases that changed the face of Human Resources. This week, we revisit the case of Griggs v Duke Power, where an intelligence test was ...
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34:37
Ep130: Listener Q&A - Bad Attitudes, Walking Off The Job, & Quid Pro Quo
Welcome to another Listener Q&A with The Team at HR Stories! Today's episode goes into these questions:Can you terminate an employee just for a bad attitude?What should you do when an employee walks off the job mid-shif...
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Episode 130
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40:55
Ep129: Listener Q&A - What's the law anymore?
Racial harassment, DEI confusion, and legal landmines—this episode dives into the HR challenges small businesses can’t afford to mishandle. From a $200K court ruling against an HR team that brushed off serious complaints to how one company lega...
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Episode 129
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38:54
Ep128: Recent and Upcoming Policy Changes You Need to Know
There has been no shortage of policy updates this year and it's enough to make any HR pro's head spin. Join the team as they go through the key ones to be aware of and discuss the proposed changes that you may hear about through the remainder o...
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Episode 128
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29:07
Ep127: QA - Military Leave, Annoying Managers, and Skipped Lunches
Welcome to another Listener Q&A with The Team at HR Stories! Today's episode goes into these questions:We have someone out on military leave who is supposed to return soon. We want to keep the person we brought in to cover for t...
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Episode 127
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23:16
Ep126: Part 2 What Keeps You Up At Night in HR
Chuck and John are back this week with part 2 of what is keeping HR professionals awake at night. Catch up on the ins and outs of the issues of today so you can walk into your job with the confidence and knowledge needed to tackle them like a p...
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Episode 126
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28:25
Ep125: Part 1 What Keeps You Up At Night - Tackling the HR Issues of Today
Part 1 of 2 - Do you have sleepless nights, stressing about all of the things you need to take care of in your workplace? Working in HR, there are endless lists of important details that human resource professionals are responsible for. From em...
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Episode 125
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36:56
From the Vault - Preventable Death in the Workplace
Join the team as the jump back to an episode from last summer where they talk about how to keep you and your employees safe during the summer heat and avoid costly mistakes that can lead to serious harm. We'll see you bac...
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25:33
Ep124: Heels, Health, and HR Headaches - The Dress Code Lawsuit Every Employer Should Know
What happens when a company's dress code walks straight into a lawsuit? In this eye-opening episode, Chuck and John unpack the real-life legal battle between a cocktail server and MGM National Harbor over mandatory high heels, disability discri...
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Episode 124
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39:17
Ep123: Q&A - Smelly Lunch and Consistent Callouts
Welcome to another Listener Q&A with The Team at HR Stories! Today's episode goes into these questions:1. Can you require a doctors note for someone who continually calls in the day after a holiday weekend? Our PTO policy doesn’t re...
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Episode 123
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20:26