Practical HR Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
California courts have repeatedly refused to enforce noncompete agreements. Now, a new California appeals court decision upholding a whopping $1,080,000 punitive damages award shows the high price you can pay for firing an employee who won’t sign a noncompete agreement.
by Tammy Binford A bipartisan effort to reform U.S. immigration policy includes what the proposal’s authors say is a plan to “create an effective employment verification system” as well as a way to “establish an improved process for admitting future workers to serve our nation’s workforce needs, while simultaneously protecting all workers.” Eight U.S. senators—Republicans […]
We think that drug use in our company might be growing, and management wants to institute a broad, random testing policy with a zero-tolerance standard. I believe that random testing might be a privacy violation in California. Is it advisable to have a random testing policy, and if not, what do you recommend for curbing […]
by Gary S. Fealk It is once again time for employers to report the demographics of their workforce to the Joint Reporting Committee of the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). The report, which is commonly referred to as an EEO-1 report, typically must be filed between […]
Today, in Staub v. Proctor Hospital, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously held that an employer may be liable under the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA) when the discriminatory actions of an employee who doesn’t make employment decisions influence the employment decisionmaker. More specifically, the Court noted, “if a supervisor performs an act […]
"Qualifying exigency"—one of two types of military FMLA leave, and one of those great regulatory terms that gives the illusion of clarity but is hard to pin down in the real world. The FMLA allows qualified employees with family members actively or formerly in the military to take leave under two circumstances: qualifying exigency (we’ll […]
In a BLR webinar titled “Depression and Other Mental Illness Under New ADA: Accommodation Practices for HR,” Susan G. Fentin and Ronald Schouten tackled the sensitive issue of handling depression and other mental illnesses that employees may face. This issue can be complex because employees are often reluctant to ask for help, the symptoms of […]
What are you doing for Valentine’s Day? How about a nice romantic interlude … say, an audio conference on workplace romance? We’ll get to that in a minute. First, as promised, attorney Joseph Beachboard on Love Contracts. In yesterday’s Advisor, employment law attorney Joseph Beachboard discussed the challenges of romance in the workplace. Today, he […]
Despite the healthcare reforms implemented under the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, 90% of employers are facing increases in the premiums they pay for employee health plans. And nearly 25% of employers are seeing rate increases in the double digits says a new survey by Arthur J. Gallagher & Company.
A new infographic from the International Association of Administrative Professionals (IAAP) shows that while more companies are using mobile devices and Cloud apps, approximately 6 million office professionals in North America alone get 10 or fewer hours of training every year provided by their employers. About half those office professionals are completely responsible for their […]