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10-Year-Old Blueberry Picker Proves Costly for Employer

Federal investigators fined an Arkansas farm $8,000 for illegally hiring a 10-year old to pick blueberries and for other wage and hour violations . The Labor Department also has recovered $1,160 in back wages for four of the farm’s workers. “The laws and regulations for vulnerable young workers are very specific, and employers in violation […]

Survey: Wage/Hour Suits Lead Litigation Parade

In yesterday’s Advisor, we featured highlights from the 2011 Fulbright & Jaworski Litigation Trends Survey; today, what the survey revealed about litigation budgets and wage/hour litigation, plus good news about your job descriptions. Fulbright & Jaworski L.L.P. is a leading full-service international law firm, with approximately 850 lawyers. Litigation Spending Is Up Spending on litigation […]

NLRB’s Decision to Hold Vote on Quicker Elections Drawing Fire

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has decided to hold a vote on November 30 on portions of a controversial proposal that would speed up union elections. That decision is sparking outrage among foes of the measure. “This announcement confirms what we’ve suspected all along: the Obama NLRB is determined to impose a flawed rule […]

Turbo-Charge Your Sales Incentive Program

The three turbocharged techniques Coletti and Fiss suggest are: Fast Start Bonuses, OA incentives, and SPIFFs. Colletti is Managing partner of consulting firm Colletti-Fiss, LLC; Fiss is a partner. What Can You Expect from Turbo-Charging? Fast start bonuses are helpful to counter seasonality or cyclicality in buyer purchases, and to help realize more revenue sooner, […]

Expansive Interpretations of Occupational Health and Safety Laws Changing

By Rosalind Cooper Recently, courts across Canada seem to be expanding the application and coverage of occupational health and safety legislation, providing broad and liberal interpretations of legislation. But that may be changing. The decision in Ontario (Ministry of Labour) v. Sheehan’s Truck Centre Inc. is being welcomed by many as an indication that the […]

Litigation Trends: More Regulation, More Investigations, (A Little) Less Litigation

Regulatory actions and internal investigations are climbing, according to the 2011 Fulbright & Jaworski Litigation Trends Survey; however, businesses faced slightly less litigation in 2011 than in 2010. More than one-third of respondents report there has been an increase in external regulatory inquiries directed at their companies, and more than one-quarter of respondents expect the […]

If EEOC Suggests Mediation, Should You Say ‘Yes”?

Special from the Advanced Employment Issues Symposium, Las Vegas. If the EEOC suggests that you mediate with your complaining employee, you should accept, says attorney Mark Schickman. He and his clients have had good experiences with it, he adds. Schickman is a partner at Freeland Cooper & Foreman LLP in San Francisco. His remarks came […]

HR’s Worst—and Potentially Most Expensive—Mistake

Special from the Advanced Employment Issues Symposium, Las Vegas Attorney experts from the Employers Counsel Network delivered hard-hitting answers to HRDA’s question about the most expensive mistake HR managers make. The remarks came at BLR’s Advanced Employment Issues Symposium, held November 17-18 in Las Vegas. Refused Accommodation Requests The number one mistake is untrained supervisors […]

The Top 5 Reasons Employers Should Offer an FSA

Flexible spending accounts (FSAs) are a common feature of employee benefit plans. But why would an employer offer an FSA plan to its employees? Well, it’s extra money in your workers’ pockets that you and your employees probably don’t want to leave lying on the IRS’ table. Karen Kirkpatrick, senior compliance adviser for Infinisource, explained […]