Council members with questions on understanding and implementing the state’s new smoking ban can call The Council’s toll-free Resourceline.

"This is a powerful benefit of Council membership, especially at times like this, when new bills create new questions and new work for HR professionals," said Tom Minnick, manager of The Council's Center for Human Resources and operator of the Resourceline.

About 12 callers a day use the service. About three-quarters of callers raise specific HR-policy questions. Others seek advice on handling a specific HR issue. Questions about family and medical leave, hiring and firing issues, health insurance, and the new smoking regulations are typical.

Callers come from all sectors, employers of all sizes, and both businesses and not-for-profit members, Minnick said, with smaller members that have little or no HR staff calling especially often.

Minnick is not a lawyer and offers no legal advice, but he has more than 20 years' experience in HR management. And he has access to a number of legal resources, such as The Council's employment-law "survival guides," which are produced annually by the American Chamber of Commerce Publishers of Florida.

He also uses a CD-ROM data base on employment law and practices, as well as a number of government and private websites.

The Resourceline number is 1-800/332-2117.