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Oregon Women’s Prison Provides Virtual Heavy Equipment Training for Post-Incarceration Employment

Finding ways to employ ex-convicts is a win-win-win in a tight labor market. Employers are better able to staff their operations, ex-convicts are given the opportunity for meaningful employment and a livable wage, and society benefits from reduced dependence on government support and recidivism. Unfortunately, it’s often quite difficult for ex-convicts to find good jobs […]

Early Settlement May Prevent Collective Actions?

Collective wage/hour suits can turn relatively small and inexpensive problems into very large and very expensive ones, but there may be a technique that makes the collective action moot, says Attorney Deanna Brinkerhoff. In Genesis Healthcare Corp. v. Symczyk, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that, at least in this case, action by the employer to […]

May the Force (of Failure) Be with You

This edition of The Oswald Letter is a guest post from Elizabeth Petersen, Simplify Compliance’s executive vice president of revenue and strategy. by Elizabeth Petersen Let’s get three things out of the way: I love Star Wars. I also love Star Trek. I’m only moderately embarrassed by admitting this.

Small Creatures Cause Large Number of Fatalities

When you think of certain jobs—like firefighter, police officer, bodyguard—you tend to think that these jobs are pretty dangerous. Would you feel the same way about groundskeepers or florists? Some of the most mundane jobs may, in fact, be the most life-threatening. And it’s not the jobs that are killing workers; it’s the critters that […]

Horrible Party Game Costs TV Personalities Their Jobs

Ranked as one of Amazon’s top selling games, Cards Against Humanity is definitely not for the faint of heart. The game is similar to the family-friendly Apples to Apples, but you won’t find some of those G-rated phrases in this game. Instead, you’ll find “mature” (if only those playing it actually acted this way) content […]

teambuilding

Teambuilding: Making Work Teams Work

There may be no “I” in “TEAM” – but there’s certainly a lot of dysfunction. Even the best workplace teams aren’t immune to occasional tensions and roadblocks.

Mental disorders: How will DSM-5 affect California employers?

What is DSM-5? It is the new edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, released by the American Psychiatric Association on May 18, 2013. This is the first substantial update to the DSM since 1994, and it reorganizes the classification system and changes the names of some disorders to simplify diagnostics for practitioners. The DSM is primarily used by psychiatrists and other mental health professionals in diagnosing patients, but its influence extends to the courts and the development of employment law.

Finding the Safe Haven from Harassment Claims

Although the Supreme Court has made it clear that employers are responsible for unlawful harassment by supervisors, the Court did provide a clear-cut method of avoiding liability under certain circumstances. Here’s how it works. First, the Court clarified that an employer is always liable for a supervisor’s harassment if it results in a tangible employment […]