Practical HR Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
Employees who work at Mervyn’s Department Store have filed two lawsuits accusing the retail chain of coercing them into working up to 80 hours a week without overtime. One lawsuit, filed on behalf of 1,300 hourly “team coordinators,” claims they were forced to work “off the clock” through lunch and breaks and were not paid […]
Most employers perform some form of background screening on prospective employees. Often, this is conducted as a condition of the job offer. The candidate proceeds through the hiring process and is made a conditional offer, and the offer proceeds if nothing negative is discovered through the screening process.
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. […]
When an employee files a lawsuit that turns out to be frivolous, the employer can usually recover its own attorney’s fees expended in defending itself in the case. But now, in a blow for employers, a California appeals court has ruled that Exxon Corp. could not recover attorney’s fees it was required to expend to […]
Update Dec. 16: COBRA Subsidy Extension Provisions Likely to Be Enacted As Part of DOD Appropriations Act By Ashley Gillihan and John Hickman Last week Nancy Pelosi (D-California), the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, released a 1,990-page health care reform bill called the Affordable Health Care for America Act. The bill is a […]
By Chris Ceplenski, BLR Managing Editor, News “The pendulum for benefits responsibility has swung back over to the employer.” “We saw a drastic rise in enrollment in our high deductible health plan (HDHP) when we renamed it an HSA plan.” “Benchmarking against your competitors is important, but don’t be a copycat.” “Eliminate the benefits-speak and […]
The Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC) is designed to be an incentive for employers to hire people who frequently face difficulty finding employment. As the name implies, this incentive is in the form of a tax credit. As such, it is administered by both the Department of Labor (DOL) and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). […]
Thursday morning, President Barack Obama signed the first bill of his White House tenure, putting his campaign theme of change into immediate action by overturning U.S. Supreme Court precedent.The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act will affect employers charged with pay discrimination by significantly expanding employees’ time for filing suit. Specifically, the Fair Pay Act amends […]
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has declared H1N1 influenza, commonly known as the Swine Flu, to be an epidemic. It seems like every national nightly news program brings more stories of outbreaks, school closings, and even deaths — and it’s just the beginning of flu season. What’s a conscientious employer to do? Take the […]