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Yahoo! Wins Trade Secrets Injunction Against Ex-Workers

Recently, Yahoo! sued startup MForma Group, Inc., a wireless content provider based in San Francisco, claiming that a group of seven Yahoo! workers left the Internet giant to join MForma, taking trade secrets with them–including proprietary source code and other confidential business information. The lawsuit included charges that one former employee, David Chang, copied over […]

Employee Leasing, Part 2: How To Avoid Getting Burned; An 8-Point Checklist

The employee leasing business is booming, and many employers are lured by its promises of reduced administrative headaches and improved employee benefits. But, as we discussed last month in Part 1 of our special two-part series on employee leasing, signing up with an employee leasing company can also bring some unexpected financial and legal risks. […]

Form I-9 Remains Valid Beyond June 30, 2009

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced today (June 26) that the Employment Eligibility Verification Form I-9 (Rev. 02/02/09) currently on the USCIS website will continue to be valid for use beyond June 30, 2009. The agency has requested that the Office of Management and Budget approve the continued use of the current  Form I-9. […]

New California law grants domestic workers overtime pay

by Cathleen S. Yonahara A new California law taking effect January 1, 2014, grants overtime pay for at least the next three years to domestic workers who are personal attendants. Under old state law, “personal attendants” are exempt from statutory overtime and meal and rest break provisions, but they are not exempt from minimum wage […]

Nondisabled Employees May Challenge Medical Exams

Employees need not have a disability to challenge the legality of an employer’s required medical exams, the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled in a case of first impression. At the same time, the court also reaffirmed the ability of an employer to request an examination because it was related to performing a […]

"Sound Advice" for Training Supervisors

If you want to effectively train supervisors on legal hiring, don’t just show them or tell them, but do both! If you’ve tried training your supervisors on HR and found that some just never catch on, perhaps you’re not properly accommodating their “learning styles.” For as educators will tell you, some people learn best by […]

Premier teamwork: Soccer champs’ victory offers lessons for HR pros

by Peter Lowe They were a rag-tag group of has-beens, rejects, and journeymen. They were hired at low wages and with even lower expectations. A recently fired 64-year-old Italian was hired to manage them. They enjoyed a 138-year history, yet no history of success. The odds of the team winning the championship were 5,000 to […]

Ask the Expert: Is it better to keep personnel files in a central location or on-site locally?

October 4, 2010 This is really a matter of company policy. Many companies maintain an official personnel file with copies of resumes, applications, offer letters, performance appraisals, training records, salary increases, etc. In addition, the official file should contain any contract or written agreement between the employee and the employer (such as a noncompete agreement), […]

Seeking Talent: Three tips for recruiting diverse talent

If you want to attract a broad base of workers with talent, you must be more proactive in your recruiting efforts, says employment lawyer and diversity consultant Natalie Holder-Winfield, author of Recruiting & Retaining a Diverse Workforce: New Rules for a New Generation. Holder-Winfield, president and chief strategic officer of Quest Diversity Initiatives, offers these […]

How a Comic Book Character Can Promote Women in STEM

Diversity and inclusion were once considered “fluffy” company goals that were pursued by bleeding hearts or, more cynically, the PR-minded, but that view has steadily changed over the last few decades.