Practical HR Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
On procedural grounds, a federal appeals court rejected a lawsuit from the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) against an employer that had conditioned health coverage on participation in a wellness program.
Yesterday’s Advisor featured attorney Mark Jones on how wellness programs get into legal trouble. Today, his checklist for avoiding legal hassles, plus an introduction to the all-HR-in-one website, HR.BLR.com®. Jones, who is a partner at Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP in Los Angeles, offered his wellness guidance at a recent Benefits Boot Camp sponsored by […]
Reference requests have come under scrutiny in recent years. This because negative references can be deemed an adverse employment action—and thus set the stage for a retaliation claim. On the other hand, even a good reference could be problematic. For example, if a good reference is given for an employee who was terminated due to […]
Litigation Value: More fodder for potential sexual harassment, sexual orientation, and national origin claims, but it could have been worse. At least Andy didn’t run naked through the parking lot with a doughnut on his ding-dong — that would have put me off of Krispy Kreme for awhile. Was really looking forward to being able […]
Litigation Value: Lots and lots of coal in everybody’s stockings! Last night’s episode of The Office was a repeat of the night we were introduced to Pam’s temporary replacement, Kathy. Since my colleague Josh Drexler ably covered that episode when it aired a few weeks ago, I thought I’d just take this opportunity to look […]
CDC Director Dr. Tom Frieden called the effect of excessive alcohol consumption devastating. He added, “In addition to injury, illness, disease, and death, it costs our society billions of dollars through reduced work productivity, increased criminal justice expenses, and higher healthcare costs.” The study says the economic burden on states is huge—an average of $3 […]
With 50 states, there can be 50 different sets of requirements on any employment law. Here’s a way to quickly scan them all. The recent Advisor article on “data breach” noted that there are 22 different state laws on protection of records, not to mention New York City having its own law. What’s more, the […]
By Marisa Victor and Yael Wexler Noncompetition clauses in employment contracts are difficult to enforce in Canada. Courts tend to regard them as unreasonable restraints on trade. Any ambiguity usually will be fatal. Nor will the courts generally use a “blue pencil” to remove ambiguous words. This was made clear in the recent appellate decision […]
As I write this, it is the final day of 2010. We are on the eve of a new year and with it comes a clean slate, a blank canvas on which you can create the type of year you want in 2011. January 1 marks the beginning of a new year. Janus, for whom […]
by Kara Shea Typically, when employers consider whether their employees are exempt from federal overtime pay requirements, they think in terms of the “big three” exemptions — administrative, executive, and professional, collectively known as the “white-collar” exemptions. When reviewing job positions, classifying new positions, or conducting an internal audit, however, remember to consider some lesser-known […]