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The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has launched a national outreach initiative to educate workers and employers about the hazards of working outside in hot weather. The effort builds on last year’s successful summer campaign to raise awareness about the dangers of too much sun and heat. With the temperatures so far this summer […]
The U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals (whose rulings apply to all Texas employers) brought the hammer down on February 18 in an opinion written by Chief Judge Elrod. Glad I was not the nail. Show-cause order issued What is a show-cause order? It’s an order issued by a court to a lawyer essentially saying, […]
by Kevin C. McCormick Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley has signed a bill that prohibits discrimination against transgender citizens in employment, housing, credit, and public accommodations. The Fairness for All Marylanders Act, which was passed by the legislature on March 27 and signed into law on May 15, adds “gender identity” to the Maryland laws that […]
by Michael P. Maslanka Wow, talk about a week full of “breaking news” with President Donald Trump (a la his role in The Apprentice) telling FBI Director James Comey, “You’re fired.” To recap: Comey was fired in the midst of the FBI’s investigation into whether Trump’s presidential campaign colluded with the Russians to rig the […]
Four groups — the ERISA Industry Committee, the American Benefits Council, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Business Roundtable — filed an amicus brief July 26 to urge 2nd Circuit judges to support the principle of deference to plan administrators’ decisions over benefit plans. When plans reserve discretionary authority in plan documents, courts must […]
Federal and state governments require multiple notices to employees, but do they also require them in foreign languages for non-English-speaking workers? The short answer … maybe. You probably know that with the recent increase in the minimum wage, you had to tear down the old required poster and replace it with a new one. Of […]
Employers in Illinois must now allow workers 2 weeks’ unpaid leave for the death of a child. Illinois appears to be the second state to mandate bereavement leave for private employers; Oregon adopted a similar measure in 2014.
“Video training has been around in some way for a very, very long time,” says David Stubenvoll, CEO and cofounder of Wowza Media Systems (www.wowza.com), a provider of media server and media workflow software. However, two-way video—a relatively new technology—is becoming increasingly popular in corporate training settings, he says. “With the Internet and with high-speed […]
The Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment (HIRE) Act (H.R. 2847), a jobs bill President Barack Obama signed into law on March 18, 2010, provides tax breaks to employers that hire unemployed workers or individuals who were only working part-time in 2010. Under the HIRE Act, qualified employers could receive a payroll tax incentive and a […]
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) is expected to issue guidance on Wednesday that will grant expanded Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) rights to gay and lesbian employees. The development, however, may not be as dramatic as it sounds. Initial overnight reports made it appear that the Obama administration was expanding the FMLA to […]