Most Popular

Fewer Exec Compensated with Pensions or SERPs

Nearly three-quarters of newly hired corporate executives are now treated like their rank-and-file when it comes to retirement benefits, with few being offered the traditional “top-hat” defined benefit plan that used to be as common as a company car and stock options for senior managers. In making this transition away from DB plans, however, some […]

Church Music Director Is Minister, So Court Blocks Employment Discrimination Suit

A Catholic church’s music director is a “minister” and therefore ineligible to bring employment discrimination claims against the Church, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled, implementing a new U.S. Supreme Court precedent.  Phillip Cannata worked as the music director for St. John Neumann Catholic Church, part of the Catholic Diocese of Austin. He […]

Are You Ready to Train for a Nontraditional Business Model?

Sometimes it’s necessary to strip away all the preconceived notions about how to succeed in an industry, reshuffle roles, and take an untraditional approach to change things for the better. That’s even true—maybe especially true—in industries as steeped in tradition as winemaking. Typically, there are three groups involved in winemaking: The winemakers, The distributors, and […]

Workplace Bias: High Court Makes Discrimination Easier to Prove; What You Need to Know

Caesars Palace in Las Vegas employed Catharina Costa as a warehouse worker and heavy-equipment operator. She was the only woman in this job and in her local Team- sters bargaining unit. Eventually, Costa was fired after an altercation with a male co-worker.When Costa sued for sex discrimination, Caesars contended her termination stemmed from Costa’s lengthy […]

Immigration Enforcement – Employer Obligations and Risks

When it comes to immigration enforcement, no employer is immune from immigration scrutiny. An organization that ignores problems with its procedures designed to keep a legal workforce is risking ruinous fines and penalties. Employers have an obligation to hire workers who are legally authorized to work in the United States. Even without the passage of […]

Who’s working at home, and is home the proper place?

Workers who battle drive-time traffic, spend a significant portion of a paycheck at the gas station, and fight the distracting hubbub of the office may dream of working amid the comforts of home. There’s no frustrating commute, no office annoyances. But a good many telecommuters worry that they’re missing something because they’re isolated from colleagues. […]

Rework

Employment law attorney Michael Maslanka reviews Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson’s book Rework, finding that the authors offer valuable lessons for changing the way your organization works. Rework by Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson is a fascinating book. It consists of around 100 chapters, each two or three pages long, with some cool […]

Solis, Ledbetter Promote Paycheck Fairness Act in DOL Webcast

This morning, Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis hosted a live webcast promoting the passage of and fielding audience questions about the Paycheck Fairness Act (PFA). The webcast, which featured Lilly Ledbetter as cohost, emphasized the current administration’s efforts to eliminate wage discrimination while promoting wage transparency in the workplace, noting that passage of the PFA […]