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No Punitive Damages for Wage-Hour Violations, Court Says

A California court of appeals has ruled that an employee cannot recover punitive damages for the employer’s violations of state Labor Code provisions governing meal and rest breaks, pay stubs, and minimum wages.1 That’s because those Labor Code provisions include specific remedies, including penalties that are punitive in nature—and those are the only remedies available. […]

In States Where Unemployment Rates Rise, Employer Costs May Follow

According to the most recent Regional and State Employment and Unemployment Summary from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, state and regional unemployment rates continued their upward climb throughout the month of March. Forty-six states reported unemployment rate increases in March, and all 50 states and the District of Columbia have higher rates than they did […]

Four States Approve Measures Ensuring Secret Union Ballots

In Tuesday’s election, four states — Arizona, South Carolina, South Dakota, and Utah — approved ballot measures that would guarantee employees the right to secret-ballot voting in union elections. We decided to ask employment law attorneys in each of the four states — all members of the Employers Counsel Network — about the outcome of […]

News Notes: Court Nixes Rehab Benefits For Undocumented Worker

An undocumented employee who was injured on the job has had her request for rehabilitation benefits thrown out by the California Court of Appeal. Margalese Ortega-Ruiz injured her back while working at a Jack-in-the-Box restaurant in Santa Monica. After she filed a workers’ comp claim and requested vocational rehabilitation benefits, the restaurant discovered she wasn’t […]

National Origin Discrimination and English-Only Rules

By Troy D. Thompson In fiscal year (FY) 2009, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) received 11,134 charges involving claims of national origin discrimination ― an approximate 57 percent increase since 1999. Although the EEOC has not yet disclosed its statistics for FY 2010, all indications are that these claims continue to rise. Given that […]

Recruiting Techie Talent (The Rules Work for ‘Other’ Talent, Too)

Recruiting techie talent is all about understanding what they are looking for—and that’s true for recruiting any type of talent. First, let’s look at a survey that recruiting firm Dice, which specializes in technology and engineering employees, recently conducted among more than 650 passive and active information technology (IT) candidates. What’s Missing from Job Postings? […]

The Cursed Résumé

By Kyle Emshwiller Registered nurses are going to be a hot career choice over next few years according to O*NET, an online occupation database. With a faster than average projected national job growth (20% to 28%), as well as 1,207,400 projected openings nationwide over the decade, it’s a great sign for RNs. However, while the […]

FMLA: Substance Abuse? Holidays? Multiple SHCs?

FMLA just won’t get easier. It seems that every request for FMLA has some new twist. Today, we’ll unravel a few twisted misconceptions your managers and supervisors may have. In yesterday’s Advisor, we busted some myths concerning FMLA leave. Today, some of the thorniest questions readers ask, plus an introduction to the “FMLA Bible.” Do […]