Practical HR Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
By Lisa K Loesel. Loans against a qualified retirement plan can go wrong in a variety of ways, exposing employers and workers to taxes and penalties. But employers and workers can avoid trouble if they remain aware of key factors to prevent the worst from happening. And even if potential violations occur, there are ways […]
The debate over how employers should handle time off for the Thanksgiving holiday is taking a new twist this year. While the last few holiday seasons have seen more retailers expanding Black Friday to include all or part of Thanksgiving day, this year the backlash is heating up as a number of major players gamble […]
According to a new decision from a California Court of Appeals, the state antibias law doesn’t obligate an employer to make a temporary light-duty accommodation for a disabled employee into a permanent one. The case involved Burbank police officer Mark Raine, who injured his knee while on his normal patrol duty. The police department reassigned […]
In the March 1998 issue of California Employer Advisor, we reviewed a decision by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal focusing on alleged secret genetic testing of employees at the University of California’s Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. The court held that the workers could sue the lab for violating their privacy rights. Now the lab has […]
An employer/plan administrator that tried to make good on a COBRA administrative error got more reinforcement that its efforts greatly minimized its legal liability. The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the fact that the aggrieved qualified beneficiary received two years of free health coverage effectively cancelled out any need to impose penalties for […]
By Gilda Villaran In our January 4, 2010, article titled Obtaining a Work Permit in Canada: The Labour Market Opinion Process, we explained that in order to get a work permit for a foreign worker, an employer in Canada generally must first obtain a Labour Market Opinion (LMO) from the Department of Human Resources and […]
In yesterday’s Advisor, BLR editor and attorney Patricia Trainor SPHR clarified National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) pronouncements on confidentiality and access; today, NLRB and “at-will” statements, plus an introduction to the all-in-one HR Website, HR.BLR.com. Trainor is Managing Editor of BLR’s human resources and employment law publications. At-Will Disclaimer Now an At-Risk Disclaimer For years, […]
by Elaine Young Here are two situations in which you must avoid discrimination while fulfilling your obligation to hire only authorized workers. Situation #1 ABC Resort is a beautiful, large new resort in the Utah mountains. Some of its managers heard about Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids a few years ago at other resorts […]
Rejecting a plan participant’s claims that plan documents should specifically list in-network providers, the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals held that a plan clearly providing information on how to check for provider status was sufficient to escape benefits-denial and fiduciary-breach claims. In affirming a lower court decision, the court also rejected an argument that […]
By Cathleen S. Yonahara, JD Two former employees sued Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc., challenging its policy of requiring employees to purchase slip-resistant shoes from a vendor as a condition of employment and deducting the cost of the shoes from employees’ paychecks without obtaining their written authorization.