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15-Year Sexual Harassment Report Card Brings Good News and Bad News for Employers
Lawsuits are down, but judgments are up, and training remains the answer October 2006 marks 15 years since the term “sexual harassment” entered the American lexicon in a big way. Americans came to know it through the testimony of Anita Hill, as she complained about alleged unwelcome advances from her ex-boss, now-Supreme Court Justice Clarence […]
Survey Says: Dramatic Increase in Benefits for Part-Timers
By Stephen Bruce, PhD, PHR Just My E-pinion Our recent survey Benefits for Part-Time Employees indicates a dramatic increase in the number of organizations that offer benefits to part-time employees. In addition, 28 percent of respondents report an increase in the number of part-time employees. Looks like part-time work is coming of age. Nearly all […]
How Can Wage/Hour Bring Us Down? How Hard Is It?
Yesterday’s Advisor featured common—and egregious—wage/hour missteps; today, four more, plus an introduction to the simple-to-use, popular guide that answers all your FLSA questions. [Go here for failures 1 to 3] 4. Providing inaccurate or falsified payroll records to the government Obviously, providing falsified records is not a wise practice. However, many submitted records are merely […]
Health And Safety: Court Looks At When Unintended Safety Lapses May Lead To Penalties For Willful Violation Of Cal/OSHA Rules
John Blackstock, an apprentice electrician with Rick’s Electric Inc., a San Diego electrical contractor, was seriously hurt when he received a 227-volt shock while working on electrical cables. Foreman Glen Woodmansee believed the cables weren’t energized, but didn’t check before assigning Blackstock to the project. Plus, Blackstock hadn’t been trained to work on live equipment. […]
News Notes: Jury Sides with Employer in Muslim Bias Case
A federal jury in San Jose has sided with Sunnyvale chip maker Advanced Micro Devices on allegations that executive Walid Maghribi was forced to quit shortly after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, after AMD chairman Jerry Sanders learned Maghribi was a Lebanese Muslim. Maghribi charged the company made his job intolerable because of […]
Money Market Reform Proposal Put on Hold; FSOC Might Revive It
SEC efforts to tighten rules on the $2.56 trillion money market fund industry are on indefinite hold. Trade organizations representing the retirement plan and asset management industries wrote a joint letter to SEC Aug. 21 criticizing money market reforms on which the commission was slated to vote Aug. 29. The letter urged SEC not to […]
Dress Codes: Worker Reinstated After Being Fired For Wearing Tongue Stud
An apartment leasing agent for Los Angeles-based real estate management company Oakwood Worldwide filed a discrimination suit after being fired for allegedly refusing to remove a tongue stud. Mary Haudenshield claimed the stud was not visible and did not violate the company’s dress code. Oakwood has now agreed to reinstate Haudenshield and pay her back […]
Wine Before 9 Sends Employee to the Unemployment Line
By Martin J. Regimbal, The Kullman Firm Be careful if you take an adverse action against an employee who is using or has recently used FMLA leave. Claims of retaliation based on an employee’s protected leave are common under the FMLA. You must use the same care when you terminate someone who has exercised his […]
New guidance signals tougher stance on independent contractor classification
A new interpretation of language in the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) is the latest effort in the government’s fight against what it sees as troubling misclassification of employees as independent contractors. On July 15, David Weil, administrator of the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) Wage and Hour Division (WHD), released Administrator’s Interpretation 2015-1 […]