Practical HR Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
In light of new evidence that overweight workers are costing U.S. businesses more, many employers may find new motivation to help their workers stay healthy and fit. If you’re not sure where to start or how to get a workplace wellness program up and running, consider the California 5 a Day—Be Active! Worksite Program, developed […]
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 […]
President Bush signed the ADA Amendments Act of 2008 (ADAAA) into law on Sept. 25. It will expand interpretation of the American with Disabilities Act’s coverage, reversing a trend toward narrow construction that began with a string of U.S. Supreme Court decisions starting in 1999. The amendments become effective January 1, 2009. Learn more from […]
The flood of donning and doffing disputes under the Fair Labor Standards Act that we saw a few years back may have leveled off. But some pay issues relating to this routine taking off and putting on of clothes are not yet resolved. The Supreme Court had two opportunities in its current term to pick […]
by Kylie Crawford, TenBrook Not long ago, I heard a story about George Wallace, Alabama’s governor in the 1960s and one of the leading advocates for Jim Crow laws and segregation. He is well-known for his “stand at the schoolhouse door,” where he attempted to prohibit two black students from registering for classes at the […]
What’s happening at EEOC and OFCCP? Increased resources for compliance and new areas of focus, says Leslie Silverman, former Vice Chair of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). Silverman, a partner at Proskauer, LLP, in Washington, D.C., offered her take on the Obama administration’s compliance tactics at the Society for Human Resource Management’s Employment Law […]
by Karen Sargeant The United States is not the only country being hit by increasing unemployment rates — Canada is being hit, too. Although not as high as unemployment figures in the US, Canadian figures put unemployment at 6.6%. So where is Canada being hit the most? The following statistics from the Labour Force Survey […]
Last year, a three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, which covers California, ruled in favor of an employer that was accused of sex discrimination for requiring female employees only to wear makeup on the job (see the Feb. 2005 issue of the California Employer Advisor). The Ninth Circuit subsequently agreed to have […]
In critical HR discussions with employees, some of your managers will do best working from a script. When it comes to HR-related actions, do your line managers suffer from “wingtip in mouth disease?” You know the symptoms: They over-promise or ask inappropriate or even illegal questions during job interviews. Their performance appraisal meetings with employees […]
Organic grocer Sunflower Market has agreed to pay $125,310 in back overtime wages to 78 workers at its stores in New Mexico, Colorado, Nevada, and Arizona under an agreement with the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) to resolve charges that the employer misapplied executive and administrative overtime exemptions. The DOL also fined Colorado-based Sunflower $10,670 […]