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News Notes: Court Gives Green Light To Privacy Suit Over Hidden Cameras

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has given employees at Consolidated Freightways’ Mira Loma terminal the go-ahead to sue their employer under state law for invasion of privacy after video cameras were discovered hidden behind two-way mirrors in men’s and women’s restrooms. The company argued that the case should be thrown out because a determination […]

Talking turkey and mulling mediation

by Christopher J. Pyles Many (many) years ago when I was in college, I spent Thanksgiving Day with a bachelor uncle at a football game. In celebration of the season, we bought a frozen turkey on the way home . . . and sadly discovered that you can’t just toss a turkey in the oven […]

California minimum wage will hit $9 on July 1

by Michael Futterman and Jaime Touchstone As fast-food and other low-wage workers protest for pay raises and President Barack Obama pushes for a higher federal minimum wage, California employers need to prepare for a $1 increase in the state’s minimum wage. California’s minimum wage will rise to $9 an hour on July 1 before hitting […]

Kentucky: Foe’s ‘Aqua Buddha’ Ad Didn’t Hurt Paul

by Richard S. Cleary, Greenebaum Doll & McDonald PLLC Republican Rand Paul came from a dead heat in the polls three weeks ago to handily beat the Democratic state Attorney General Jack Conway in Tuesday’s election. Conway carried Louisville, Lexington, and a few pockets in eastern Kentucky, but he managed to carry little else in […]

Sexual Orientation—No Law, But Cases Go to Court

Sexual orientation discrimination—there’s no federal law forbidding it, yet "any lawyer with a pulse" can get a claim to go forward in federal court, says attorney Michael Cohen. If sexual orientation—and gender identity and gender expression—are not on the list of protected characteristics (race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, or age), how do such […]

IRS Hikes Cents-per-mile Car Value Limit

Employers with fleets of vehicles can now determine the value of making them available for use in 2012, thanks to the IRS, which on Jan. 17 released the maximum vehicle values for use with the special valuation rules for employer-provided cars, trucks and vans in 2012. Revenue Procedure (Rev. Proc.) 2012-13, provides the new maximum […]

Site-specific Approaches Help Drive Wellness Improvement

Employee incentives can bring about improved wellness outcomes — if the goals are adequately tailored to the organization and the individual. Depending on the company culture, you could take the “little league” approach of “everybody wins,” or decide to “raise the bar,” said Brendan Kerrigan, senior vice president of PayFlex. But setting the bar too […]

Employer Stuck with $830k Bill After Delay Results in S-L Claim Denial

The outcome in this case should remind employers that even with stop-loss (S-L) in place, a self-insured health plan is risky business. Trouble for the Claire’s Stores health plan started in the form of a premature birth, which generated about $1 million in charges. Under the terms of its S-L contract, the plan had to […]

Don’t Let Fear of Failure Stop You from Taking Risks

I guess we’re all afraid of something. When we were kids, we might have been afraid of the dark or monsters under the bed. As adults, those fears often seem bigger or more real. We may have a fear of heights, the outdoors, or even failure.

The FMLA Comes of Age: New Rights for Military Families

Employers have expand job protections for military members and their families who need time off, to comply with regulations finalized by the U.S. Department of Labor Feb. 5. Major provisions, which implement changes to the Family and Medical Leave Act, include: Defining a covered veteran, consistent with statutory limitations, as limited to veterans discharged or […]