Practical HR Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
The California legislative session is now over, and while many workplace-related bills were approved by the state Senate and Assembly, Gov. Schwarzenegger vetoed all but a handful of them. In fact, the governor vetoed 35 percent—a record—of all bills sent to him, following the historic 85-day delay in passing a state budget and the governor’s […]
Sometimes it’s easy to overlook all the things that bless our lives. I mean, we’re suffering through the worst recession in decades. Unemployment has reached double digits. And we have troops abroad fighting a war. All of these things have either affected you directly or indirectly. Maybe you or someone close to you is currently unemployed. It […]
Carol Becker, a terminally ill Eastman Kodak Co. employee, put off taking early retirement in favor of going on long-term disability. She planned to retire a few months later, but then died just three days before her retirement date. Her husband sued Kodak, claiming it violated the Employee Retirement Income Security Act because a company […]
Happy people don’t sue … but there aren’t a lot of happy people these days, says Hunter Lott. Nevertheless, today’s economic times mean a once-in-a-business-lifetime opportunity, he says. Lott is a consultant who specializes in helping small businesses cope with HR regulations and compliance. His suggestions came during one of his "Please Sue Me" sessions […]
The medical cases that are bad news to self-funded plans are also bad news to stop-loss insurers. So the latest report by stop-loss insurer Sun Life Financial on the top 10 catastrophic health conditions it sees is instructive for self-funded plans. Two categories of cancer, end-stage renal disease and two categories complications related to newborns […]
Just My E-pinionBy Steven M. Horner, SPHR Today’s guest columnist suggests that we’d have better business leaders if we made them get licenses to keep their jobs. Did you ever think about all of the service providers you come in contact with … barbers, accountants, lawyers, electricians, insurance agents, and so on? All of these […]
The freelance economy is growing rapidly, a trend with significant implications for the workplace. Nearly one in four employees freelance in some capacity, according to the Staples Advantage Workplace Index, a recent study of office workers in the U.S. conducted by the business-to-business division of Staples.
The California Supreme Court has ruled unanimously that for purposes of Labor Code provisions requiring payment of wages immediately upon “discharge”—and imposing waiting time penalties for delays—the term “discharge” doesn’t just mean getting fired or laid off; it also includes when an employer releases an employee after completion of the specific job assignment or time […]
The IRS has increased the mileage rate commonly used to reimburse employees for business use of a car from 31 cents to 32.5 cents per mile. The new rate applies to miles driven beginning January 1, 2000.