Practical HR Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
by Burton J. Fishman In a ruling that could make workplace investigations at unionized facilities all but impossible, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) reversed a 37-year-old precedent that protected employees from retaliation. Under the prior Anheuser-Busch standard, employers did not have to hand over witness statements, particularly from employees, to unions in discipline cases. […]
by Tara McPhail McCarthy Tetrault Canadian human rights laws require employers to accommodate employees and customers with disabilities up to a point. What point? The point at which the accommodation would constitute “undue hardship” on the employer. But what makes an undue hardship? A recent Supreme Court of Canada decision appears to set a high […]
By Jeffrey Phillips and Alex Verjovsky You’ve heard the saying “fighting the last war”. It refers to preparing to compete using familiar techniques, against competitors you’ve faced before, in the same markets or industries, only to discover that the rules have changed. Modern business competition is changing rapidly, and to compete effectively, you need to […]
By Jane Meacham The funded status of the average U.S. corporate pension plan slid to a record low in July, according to several measurements of the health of the plans’ finances. Funding status of the typical plan surveyed for BNY Mellon Pension Summary data touched a low of 68.7 percent, off 2.9 percentage points from […]
• The majority of Baby Boomers who turn 62 in 2008 plan to retire by age 65. • The majority of Baby Boomers who are turning 62 this year have been married only once and have 2.4 children; however, only one in five say their children are living at home with them. • Only 2% […]
The federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has issued two guidance memos for employers related to the current H1N1 flu outbreak—formerly known as “swine flu.”
“Social media networks and blogs are now the fourth most popular online activity, ahead of personal e-mail,” says Attorney Cynthia L. Gibson. And they are getting more popular with HR for background checks. Unfortunately, she says, once you turn up information you don’t want, “you can’t unring the bell.” Gibson is senior vice president, Legal, […]
By Hector Chichoni On Tuesday, March 2, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced that it had sent 180 notices of inspections (NOIs) to employers in Tennessee, Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi. At least 30 NOIs have been sent to employers in Tennessee and another 30 or so to employers located in southern and central […]
by Kevin C. McCormick On March 20, the Baltimore City Council voted 11-3 to approve a bill that would raise the city’s minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2022. If ultimately enacted, the minimum wage would be the highest in Maryland. Under the proposed legislation, the minimum wage for employees working in the city […]
By Jane Meacham, retirement plans editor The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision in Spokeo Inc. v. Robins, 13-1339, U.S. (May 16, 2016), which encourages Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) plaintiffs to allege a “concrete” injury, is viewed by many in the ERISA legal community as likely to reshape litigation against employer-sponsored retirement plans.