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A holiday gift from the NLRB to employees

by Lauren E.M. Russell This has been a year of radical decisions from the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), nearly all of them favoring employees. With the appointment of a new General Counsel, the Board is poised to continue its current trend of invalidating long-accepted employer practices.  New General Counsel The NLRB recently announced that […]

3 Tips To Ring in 2011 the Right Way

Yesterday, we looked at 3 New Year’s HR tips from James J. McDonald, Jr., managing partner of the Irvine office of Fisher & Phillips, LLP (www.laborlawyers.com). Today, 3 more tips from McDonald, and an invitation to a can’t-miss webinar on California recordkeeping.

Congress Sees Self-funded Health Plans’ Financial Strength

Companies that self-fund health benefits are larger than companies that fully insure health benefits and their solvency is just as good as companies that fully insure, a government report required by the health reform law indicates. The reform law requires reports on the prevalence, solvency and quality of self-funded plans, with the stated goal of […]

Severance Pay: Court’s Ruling that Severance Package Wasn’t an Employee Benefit Plan Has Expensive Consequences for Employer

A new federal court case involves an all-too-familiar scenario. An employer acquired a new business and had to terminate the old workforce. The employer, however, needed to keep some workers around for a few months, so it offered them a severance deal. But when the employer later tried to change the severance terms, it found […]

Hot List: New York Times Bestselling Hardcover Business Books

The following is a list of the bestselling hardcover business books as ranked by the New York Times on November 30. 1. Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell. hy some people succeed — it has to do with luck and opportunities as well as talent — from the author of Blink: The Power […]

Religion Bias: Big Verdict for Worker Fired over Head Scarf

A jury in Phoenix has awarded $287,640—including $250,000 in punitive damages—in a religious discrimination suit against Alamo Car Rental brought by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). The EEOC charged Alamo with post-9/11 backlash discrimination on the basis of religion when it fired a Somali customer sales representative in December 2001 for refusing to […]

6 Tips for Dealing with New HR Laws, Regs, and Court Decisions

As every year does, 2008 brings new laws, new regs, and new court decisions to deal with. Here are 6 tips for handling the changes, whatever they are … and an introduction to our new January 30 audio conference, 2008 Legislative Update. New year, new laws and regs! OK, take time to groan, but only […]

Training Can Help Close Economy-Related Skills Gaps

In a Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) poll, 66 percent of respondents reported having a hard time recruiting for specific job openings, up from 52 percent in 2011. “The Ongoing Impact of the Recession—Recruiting and Skills Gaps” found that recruiting challenges vary by industry, but highly skilled positions—scientists, engineers, technicians, programmers, nurses, doctors, and […]

Feds Freeze Per Diem Rates for FY 2013

Reimbursement rates for lodging, meals and incidental expenses for fiscal year 2013, which begins Oct. 1, will be frozen at FY 2012 levels, the U.S. General Services Administration announced Aug. 27. GSA is the arm of the federal government that sets travel policy for federal employees. The reimbursement rates, commonly called per diems, determine the […]