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I was lucky to know Lee Smith

by Dan Oswald I was extremely sad to learn today that Lee Smith, the founder of M. Lee Smith Publishers, passed away Tuesday night. Lee was a true southern gentleman and a savvy businessman. Lee founded his company in 1975 and built an incredible business that successfully served hundreds of thousands of customers over the […]

New Illinois law bans noncompetition agreements for low-wage workers

by Steven L. Brenneman The Illinois Freedom to Work Act, which will ban noncompetition agreements for low-wage private-sector employees, goes into effect on January 1. The law defines a “low-wage employee” as an employee who earns the greater of the applicable federal, state, or local minimum wage or $13 per hour. Therefore, the law initially […]

D.C. Council approves bill providing paid family leave

The District of Columbia Council approved a bill on December 20 requiring employers to give workers eight weeks’ paid leave for the birth, adoption, or foster placement of a child. Employers will pay for the leave through a payroll tax. In addition to the eight weeks of parental leave, the Universal Paid Leave Amendment Act […]

Texas AFL-CIO seeks to join fight to save overtime rules

A group of labor organizations is attempting to save the new overtime rules from almost certain death under the Trump administration. The Texas AFL-CIO on December 9 moved to join a lawsuit challenging the rules, saying that if the president-elect drops the government’s defense of the regulation as predicted, the union group will see it […]

A real friend sticks closer than a brother

Editor’s Note: Dan invited former Tennessee Employment Law Letter editor John Phillips to share his memories of business colleague and “lasting friend” Lee Smith. by John Phillips In March of 1986, I started The Tennessee Employment Law Update, a monthly newsletter. Some lawyers subscribed to the newsletter, but it was primarily designed for HR professionals. […]

Massachusetts

‘Impossible Demands’ Lead to Disability Discrimination Lawsuit

by John S. Gannon Employers routinely ask employees to provide adequate documentation demonstrating that they can perform the essential functions of a job. That documentation may come in the form of physical or mental examinations—commonly referred to as fitness-for-duty examinations. However, problems arise when an employer disagrees with the physician who certifies the employee as […]

What’s high performance HR? Hint, it’s about more than just people

Human resources professionals have long touted their skills related to people. It’s the HR department that makes sure an organization has the people it needs and then makes sure the needs of those people are met, but does truly strategic HR require more? Definitely yes, according to HR practitioner, lecturer, researcher, and author Christopher D. […]

retirement

Update Your Retirement Plan to Account for Changing Abilities

by Lisa Higgins, Contributing Editor We know, you’ve heard a lot about the differences between the generations, especially when it comes to work and benefits. What do the Millennials want from their employers? How does that compare to the Baby Boomers’ expectations? And please, just because they’re a smaller group, don’t forget about the Gen […]