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Employers must have a reasonable basis for engaging in employee surveillance

By Clayton Jones When confronted with information that an employee may be abusing paid sick leave, it is only natural for an employer to want to investigate further. One way in which employers may do this is through the surreptitious surveillance of the employee. However, such surveillance is of limited value unless the employer will […]

Cal/OSHA Inspections: How To Effectively Prepare For A Surprise Visit From Cal/OSHA

By Don Dressler, Don Dressler Consulting Are you ready for Cal/OSHA inspectors? Each year Cal/OSHA inspects between 9,000 and 10,000 employers in California, with 240 field personnel devoted to this task. If one of your employees has a serious injury (which must be reported to Cal/OSHA within 8 hours), that will likely trigger an inspection. […]

Diversity

Employers look to ‘culture of inclusiveness’ in era of expanding LGBT rights

Inclusiveness, civility, respectful treatment: Those are all concepts getting a lot of attention as employers struggle to cope with what seems like an increasingly divisive culture often threatening to bleed over into the workplace.  A changing legal landscape also must be considered as employers strive for productive and nondiscriminatory working environments. For example, a landmark […]

Paid Sick Leave for Federal Contractors (Part II): Administering New Leave Requirements

By Susan Schoenfeld, JD In February 2016, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) published its notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) to implement Executive Order (EO) 13706, Establishing Paid Sick Leave for Federal Contractors. EO 13706 requires parties that enter into covered contracts with the federal government to provide covered employees with up to 7 days […]

hiring

Small Business Hiring Not Impacted by Government Shutdown

While government workers across the nation regain some footing after the longest government shutdown in history, small business are reporting positive numbers in light of this tough employment situation.

Dunder Mifflin, We Hardly Knew Ye

It is August 30, 2012, the night of a blue moon, and I’m a bit blue with the news earlier in the week that this will be the last season for The Office. So I thought I’d crack open a Blue Moon (OK, not literally — taking some literary license here) and share some thoughts about […]

Who Needs Forklift Training?

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) takes forklift safety very seriously. In fact, they’ve beefed up the standard to include very specific operator training requirements. OSHA’s standard on Powered Industrial Trucks has specific requirements for operator training (29 CFR 1910.178 (l)(2)(ii)) that require a combination of formal training (classroom, videos, etc.) with practical instruction, […]