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Question: One of our employees cut their hand on the edge of a broken filing cabinet at work. We asked if they wanted medical treatment, but they declined. Should we still have them fill out an accident report? Answered by the HR Experts: Advice provided by Mineral. This Q&A does not constitute legal advice and
Question: We have an employee out due to a work-related injury. Do we still need to send them Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) paperwork if they’re already on workers’ compensation? Answered by the HR Experts: It depends. The FMLA and workers’ compensation serve different purposes. The FMLA provides unpaid job-protected leave, while workers’ compensation
Introduction Not long ago, Museum of Printing President and Rochester Institute of Technology Professor Emeritus Frank Romano recorded a WhatTheyThink video about print education entitled Print Basics Are Not. Frank’s point was that in his lifetime, print education (which had been taught in virtually every high school in the past) had for all practical purposes
Introduction Production digital printing delivers many advantages such as on-demand printing, 1:1 personalization, and just-in-time manufacturing. One of the lesser-promoted advantages has been, for a certain subset of devices, the ability to add colors or special effects beyond the process colors of cyan, magenta, yellow, and black (CMYK). These digital embellishment effects, sometimes called CMYK+
Question: We usually don’t mind employees chit-chatting while they work, but some recent politics-related conversations have gotten rather loud and heated. Can we tell employees not to discuss politics at work? Answer: You can limit political speech and associated conduct that are not work-related—provided you don’t infringe on protected Section 7 rights or applicable state
Question: How should employee files be organized? Answer: We recommend having five separate files for each employee, as outlined below: These files should be kept in a secure location that is only accessible to those in the HR function or with a legitimate need to review the information—for instance, in locked cabinets inside a locked
Introduction On some level, I think we all understand that print is a better medium for deeper reading comprehension, but it is nice when a group of researchers takes the time to attach electrodes to some middle schoolers to prove it. That is exactly what Dr. Karen Froud and her team did in a 2024
Question: Are cost-of-living raises mandatory? Answer: Some state minimum wage adjustments are tied to the consumer price index, but otherwise, cost-of-living raises are not required by state or federal law. You just need to make sure you’re paying any applicable state and municipal minimum wages. That said, if the cost of living has increased in
The merger between VMA and Printing Industries Association (PIA) is now official, effective July 1, 2025. Driven by common challenges — such as declining membership, overlapping expenses, and an aging workforce—this strategic union positions both organizations for long-term sustainability and stronger member support. To protect VMA’s interests and preserve its unique voice, leadership engaged legal
Our Industry is Challenged, But Our Findings Show High Performers! We open by assessing our industry using Michael Porter’s Five-Forces model. Then, we share some findings from our February/March 2025 “Printing Industry Performance & Insights” study. Compared to our industry assessment, our study’s findings are a bit surprising. One might see our findings as “striking.” We
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