Practical HR Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
By BLR Founder and CEO Bob Brady Faced with the seemingly endless tide of gloomy economic news, how can you stay in control? BLR CEO and founder Bob Brady says the answer is simple—but not easy. Waiting for 2009 to Be Over The presidential election may be over, and 2008 may be ending, but the […]
California and federal law generally require that employees working over 40 hours in a workweek be paid an overtime premium rate for those additional hours. California law also requires that employees who work more than 8 hours in a day be paid overtime, and double-time if they work more than 12 hours in a day. […]
When properly drafted, arbitration agreements can help to efficiently and quickly resolve workplace disputes. But as a new case points out, if your agreements fall short of what courts require, you may end up in an expensive legal battle over whether the agreement is enforceable—and find that it isn’t.
A health insurer agreed to pay $1.5 million and adopt a detailed corrective action plan to resolve HIPAA security allegations stemming from a 2009 data breach. This is the first HIPAA enforcement action to result from the breach reports now required by the HITECH Act. Like many data breaches that have been making the news […]
It’s been busy recently for the federal government when it comes to implementing various health reform requirements. Here’s an overview of new guidance issued the week of Feb. 25-March 1 on health insurer fees, market reforms, the Small Business Health Options Program, multiple employer welfare arrangement regulation and information reporting. Self-insured Health Plans Exempt from […]
By Zachary D. Morahan, Coughlin & Gerhart, LLP “Prevailing wages” are the premium wage rates paid to employees who perform labor on a “public” project, often a construction or highway project. Employers in the construction trade know all too well that the failure to pay the correct prevailing wage can have dire consequences, regardless of […]
A recent study shows that most illicit drug users and heavy alcohol users are employed. That means they’re possibly working for you. If you are not testing, you’re likely an “employer of choice” for all the wrong reasons. Ah, the joys of drug testing. Nothing quite like trying to ferret out users of the Whizzinator […]
We’ve had two bad hiring experiences in which we found out later that candidates misrepresented certain areas of their background. Now, we want to improve our background checks. What can you recommend? — Isabella, HR Staffing Specialist in Oakland
A 52-year-old white public school superintendent in the Los Angeles County area who claimed he was illegally fired by a newly elected Latino majority school board will be paid $1 million in a confidential settlement to resolve his lawsuit. The superintendent alleged that the new school board president ordered him to terminate a number of […]
By Stephen Bruce, PhD, PHR Just My E-pinion LOGO In our July 22 Epinion, we ran “What Can HR Managers Learn from Shirley Sherrod. Today, we share readers’ responses. One reader thinks Ms. Sherrod “has a nice lawsuit on her hands.” Another wishes her boss had come to HR first. Read on for some interesting […]