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‘Quickie election’ rule likely on track despite Senate action

The U.S. Senate dealt at least a minor blow to the National Labor Relations Board’s (NLRB) rule aimed at speeding up union elections, but the rule’s April 14 effective date likely is still on track. On March 4, the Senate voted 53-46 to overturn the rule by using its power under the Congressional Review Act. […]

Nevada Law Protecting Gender Identity, Expression Goes Into Effect Saturday

A new Nevada law adding gender identity and expression to the list of protected characteristics goes into effect Saturday, October 1. The new law broadly defines gender identity and expression as the “gender-related identity, appearance, expression or behavior of a person, regardless of the person’s assigned sex at birth.” Details about the new law were […]

D.C. Circuit Court: NLRB Can’t Render Decisions with Only 2 Members

Although two other courts of appeals had previously decided otherwise, on May 1, the District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that a two-person National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) could not render decisions in NLRB cases. The case in question was an appeal of the NLRB’s finding that management at Laurel Baye, a nursing […]

Resources to Help You All Year Long

Need help with an FMLA issue? Having difficulty determining whether an employee’s time off qualifies under the California Family Rights Act, the state counterpart to the FMLA? At the Employer Resource Institute, we offer valuable resources that can put the information you need right at your fingertips, 24 hours a day, every day of the […]

Los Angeles, San Francisco minimum wages going up July 1

Employers in Los Angeles and San Francisco must prepare to pay higher minimum wages starting July 1. In the city of Los Angeles and the unincorporated areas of Los Angeles County, the minimum wage is going to $12 an hour on July 1 for businesses with more than 25 employees, up from $10.50 an hour. […]

Workers’ Compensation: No Benefits Available For Psychiatric Injury Stemming From Demotion; Why It’s Critical To Make Personnel Decisions In Good Faith

As layoffs occur nationwide, employers are grappling with how to calm employees’ nerves. But giving an employee false reassurances about job security only to later demote or lay off the person could lead to a costly workers’ compensation claim for stress. A new California Court of Appeal ruling illustrates that acting in good faith shields […]

Military needs more than a few good men

by Mark Schickman Let’s turn the clock back 50 years to the days before Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Sex discrimination was a constant, and sexual harassment was so prevalent that it wasn’t yet a term of art. The notion that a woman had the right to a workplace free from […]

How the Senate Health Care Bill Could Bury Employers in Paperwork

Employers may need to prepare for an avalanche of paperwork if the U.S. Senate’s Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (H.R. 3590) passes Congress in its current form (or a similar form). The comprehensive 2,074-page health care reform bill, if passed, would impose many additional burdens on employers. Changes to Health Plans Employers would be […]

Supreme Court Recognizes 2 New Retaliation Claims

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled in separate decisions that retaliation is prohibited under two federal discrimination statutes that don’t clearly say so — 42 U.S.C. § 1981 and the federal-sector provisions of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA). CBOCS West, Inc. v. Humphries In the first case, a Cracker Barrel assistant manager sued […]