Practical HR Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
by Marisa Victor and Christopher Copeland Can a Canadian employee who is fired for cause sue for outstanding bonuses? What about if those bonuses relate to the period of the employee’s wrongdoing? This was the issue in Mady Development Corp. v. Rossetto, when a terminated executive sought to claim his bonuses for a period when […]
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. […]
2015 has seen some dramatic changes in the business landscape, and the importance of an employer’s brand has become more important than ever. Studies are showing that top talent today want to work for a company they trust and believe in—but not much has been said about what organizations are actually doing to capitalize on […]
In calculating profit-based bonuses for certain store employees, Ralph’s Grocery Co. subtracts the store’s workers’ compensation costs as well as cash and merchandise shortages. David Swanson, a former Ralph’s store manager in Southern California, filed a class action lawsuit on behalf of himself and other employees challenging these bonus deductions. He claimed the grocer violated […]
In 2005, a dozen California workers died of heat illness—a toll that resulted in the promulgation of the nation’s first heat illness prevention regulation. In 2009, California/OSHA conducted more than 3,400 inspections at worksites considered “high risk” for heat illness. The agency shut down 16 worksites that posed an imminent heat hazard and issued nearly […]
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 […]
by Susan Schoenfeld, JD I had only been working for the federal government for about 6 months in 1991 when former postal worker, Thomas McIlvane, walked into the U.S. Post Office in Royal Oak, Michigan and shot and killed four supervisors. He also wounded five of his former coworkers before killing himself.
Elaine Chao, nominee for Secretary of Transportation (DOT), promised lawmakers that, if confirmed, she would lead the agency in much the same way she led the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) under George W. Bush: prioritizing compliance over enforcement.
Q: We’ve been going through the interactive process with one of our employees (we’ll call him Mike). As a result, we’ve been accommodating him with unpaid leaves for the last year. It’s been tough, and Mike’s supervisors have told me more than once that they need to terminate him and move on. According to them, […]
Unintended consequences. We’ve all experienced them, and (hopefully) they have made us more careful with subsequent decisions. Even better, they may have made us more likely to listen to wise counsel from those around us. After all, someone who has already walked the path can provide insights that may spare us from the potholes ahead.