Category: HR Management & Compliance

There are dozens of details to take care of in the day-to-day operation of your department and your company. We give you case studies, news updates, best practices and training tips that keep your organization fully in compliance with ever-changing employment law, and you fully aware of emerging HR trends.

Another Employer Hit With Class Action Over Tips

Caribou Coffee, a Minnesota-based coffee shop chain, has been slapped with a class action lawsuit charging that the company violated state labor laws, similar to California’s, that bar management from sharing in customer tips left for employees. The lawsuit was filed close on the heels of a California court’s ruling in March 2008 that Starbucks […]

DSLE Manual Quickly Updated to Reflect Brinker

Just days after a California appeals court issued the Brinker Restaurant Corp. ruling on meal and rest periods (see our story on the new case on p. 1), the California Division of Labor Standards Enforcement (DLSE) updated its Enforcement Policies and Interpretations Manual to reflect the new legal interpretations the court provided. It remains to […]

New Law Grants Final Paycheck Relief to Temporary Staffing Industry

The California Supreme Court’s 2006 decision in Smith v. Superior Court (L’Oreal) caused a big stir in the temporary staffing industry (see CWHA August 2006 and June 2008). The court held that final wages under California Labor Code Sections 201 and 203 must be paid immediately upon “discharge,” which includes “when an employer releases an […]

Meal and Rest Breaks: Important New Case Gives Employers and Employees New Flexibility; Should Mean Fewer Wage and Hour Class Actions

California employers are cheering a significant new appeals court decision that provides guidance on meal and rest period obligations and gives employers and employees new flexibility. The court ruled that you must only make breaks available—you don’t have to ensure that employees take them. We’ll look at the new case, what it means for the […]

The Family Unfriendly Workplace: Does American Flexibility Trump European Benevolence?

By BLR Founder and CEO Bob Brady BLR’s CEO wonders if this country’s flexibility doesn’t provide a more supportive environment for working parents than do European countries’ vaunted social systems. The conventional wisdom is that the U.S. is far behind the rest of the world when it comes to supporting families and their needs for […]

13 Inexpensive Tips for Encouraging Wellness Program Participation

Today we offer more low-cost tips for encouraging participation in wellness programs, and we’ll introduce a new turn-key wellness program from BLR. Beyond the actual physical activities, most wellness programs need a little incentive to encourage participation and especially to keep people participating after the initial excitement has worn off. Here are some tips from […]

Workplace Violence Prevention Strategies

Workplace violence is a serious threat to American employers and employees. Although homicide in the workplace has steadily declined since 1994, it is still the fourth leading cause of workplace fatalities in the United States. In addition, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that in 2006, more than 22,000 employees in private industry missed days […]