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States approve minimum wage, paid leave ballot questions

States with employment-related ballot questions mostly approved them during the November 8 election, and employers have little lead time before many measures will be implemented. All told, 14 states have new provisions with which companies must comply, some as early as January 1, 2017. Minimum wage Arizona, Colorado, Maine, and Washington considered minimum wage increases […]

NCAA rules limiting payments to college athletes may violate antitrust laws

by Nancy Williams Certain NCAA rules designed to ensure “amateur status” of student athletes may violate federal antitrust laws, according to a decision of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. The ruling came in a case filed by Ed O’Bannon, a former All-American basketball player at UCLA. O’Bannon discovered that his name, likeness, and […]

Unions, Politics, and Money: Campaign 2008

In a democracy, social issues regularly become political issues, and solutions (including compromises) are worked out through public elections. Since employers and unions are frequently on opposite sides of key issues, both attempt to involve the public and spend extensively to support their respective positions or solutions. Both the short- and long-term ramifications of this […]

Steps to take in response to the DOL’s proposed FLSA regulations

In 2015, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued proposed regulations that would revise the requirements for the white-collar exemptions under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The DOL has not yet issued the final regulations. This article explains the steps employers should take in response to the proposed regulations. FLSA and the proposed […]

Ask the Trainer: Weekend Training

A: According to BLR legal editors, there is no federal law that would prohibit an employer from requiring an exempt employee to attend a training session over a weekend, especially where the training is necessary for the employee to perform the job. However, the company should consider any union contract, individual employment contract, or policy […]

Hot List: Wall Street Journal’s Bestselling Hardcover Business Books

The following is a list of the bestselling hardcover business books as ranked by the Wall Street Journal with data from Nielsen BookScan on October 11. 1. StrengthsFinder 2.0: A New and Upgraded Edition of the Online Test from Gallup’s Now, Discover Your Strengths by Tom Rath. Are you unsure where your true talents lie? […]

Accommodation: What Should We Consider When Addressing Employees with Disabilities?

We’re encountering challenging disability accommodation situations because of differences in California and federal law. Is the California definition of “disability” always going to be more favorable to employees than federal law? I also don’t understand why whether a person has a disability is determined under California law without considering mitigating measures. If a person is […]

Lawyer Repellant–Apply Liberally!

In yesterday’s Advisor, attorney Wendy Warner explained how employers make things worse for themselves when lawsuits threaten. Today she shares ideas on how to make things better. Warner usually represents employees, but changed hats at a recent Society for Human Resources (SHRM) convention. Here are her simple steps employers can take “to keep lawyers like […]

Retaliation—Put a Ring on It!

Special from SHRM Employment Law and Legislative Conference Almost all lawsuits are preventable, says attorney JodyKatz Pritikin, and retaliation lawsuits are among the easiest to prevent. Katz, a featured speaker at SHRM’s Employment Law and Legislative Conference, going on this week in Washington, DC, is a trainer and investigator at proactivelawsuitsrevention.com. The “Put a ring […]

Tippling in the Barrel of Untruth: How Not to Handle a Termination

By Stephen Acker and Joel Henderson Four years ago in Ottawa, the Federal Canadian Government nipped a nascent spending scandal in the bud when it fired two employees of the Canadian Department of Public Works, Douglas Tipple and David Rotor. Tipple successfully grieved his termination before the Public Service Labour Relations Board, winning the largest […]