Practical HR Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
We all make mistakes, and when we do, we just hope we have a chance to fix them and learn from them. But when somebody gives you a second chance to fix a mistake, you’d better actually fix it because third chances are harder to come by.
by James M. Sconzo and James C. Goodfellow Last week, we disussed the overall makeup of the U.S. Supreme Court and the personal background of the High Court’s newest nominee, Sonia Sotomayor. We also looked at Judge Sotomayor’s decision in the discrimination case filed by New Haven, Connecticut, firefighters which was recently overturned by the […]
The wellness agenda is surprisingly uncluttered, says Dr. W. Smith Chandler in California Employment Law Answers. We can break it down, he says, by asking a simple question: “Why do people die?” The answer is not as complex as people think, Chandler maintains. He explains that 40 percent of all Americans die of cardiovascular diseases, […]
By Mark I. Schickman The HR world certainly has more than its share of acronyms, having to deal with the EEOC in order to comply with the ADA. And for an employee on leave, the interplay among the FMLA, PDA, and WC are crucial. But there’s a new acronym you need to learn because it […]
Employers cannot simply give employees extra money to buy individual health insurance — whether through health reimbursement arrangements, health flexible spending arrangements or just plain cash — and expect to avoid “shared responsibility” penalties, the IRS with the U.S. Departments of Labor and Health and Human Services said in new frequently asked questions about the […]
Health reform’s expansion of dependent health coverage may not have a profound effect on expenses in the Dept. of Defense (DoD)’s TRICARE program, according to a recent Government Accountability Office (GAO) study. Background Employees’ dependents can be covered by their parents’ employer-provided insurance up to age 26 under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA). […]
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals issued an opinion this week denying the application of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to have eight employees of the Santa Barbara News-Press, who were fired for engaging in union activity, reinstated.
Everyone’s talking about BIG data and HR, and the implications are interesting—long-held “truths” are being challenged. But what will it mean for you? What myths are being exposed by big data? According to a recent article in The Economist, “number-crunching has uncovered some surprising correlations.” For example, Evolv, a company that works with big data, […]
Recently, several big-name clothing retailers—including Polo Ralph Lauren, Abercrombie & Fitch, and Chicos—have been hit with charges that policies requiring employees to buy and wear the retailers’ own clothes violate California’s wage-and-hour rules stating that employers must pay for employee uniforms. Now Abercrombie & Fitch has agreed to pay $2.2 million to settle charges brought […]
Can you clarify for me what a probationary period means in terms of our legal rights as an employer? I thought that if we had a 90-day probationary period, that meant we could easily terminate a new employee without any legal hassles. But I went to a conference, and the speaker said that a) we […]