Practical HR Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has finalized a rule that permits employers to coordinate retiree health benefits with Medicare or comparable state benefits, without running afoul of the federal Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA).
Grappling with a chronic shortage of computer programmers and other skilled workers, the high-tech industry successfully lobbied long and hard for an expansion of the H-1B visa program. Employers should face fewer delays in hiring foreign professionals now that Congress has raised the annual limit on H-1B work visas and changed the rules to make […]
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has released new certification forms for leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). The new forms carry an expiration date of February 28, 2015, and replace forms that had a December 31, 2011, expiration date. The new forms appear to be identical to the old forms except […]
Yesterday’s Advisor shared tips for managing the newest generation in the workplace—the Millennials. Today, more tips from About.com’s HR expert, Susan Heathfield, another take from Claire Raines, plus news about a timely audio conference. First, more tips from Heathfield (Go here for tips 1-6.): 7. Expect multitasking. Millennials are multitaskers on a scale you’ve never […]
In response to rising gasoline prices, the Internal Revenue Service has taken the step of boosting the optional standard mileage rate by eight cents, to 48.5 cents per mile, for the final four months of 2005 (effective from Sept. 1, 2005 through Dec. 31, 2005). This is the rate most businesses use to reimburse employees […]
Does an employee “assist in the running or servicing of the business” if he designs systems for a client rather than for the business itself? According to a recent ruling from the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, the answer is “yes,” thereby helping the employee satisfy one of the key requirements for the administrative […]
The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration has released a bulletin providing information on workplace precautions against West Nile virus, an illness transmitted primarily by mosquitoes. This year, hundreds of cases of the virus have been reported in 33 states. And while the virus had so far bypassed California, as we went to press a […]
The San Jose Mercury News has agreed to pay $150,000 to settle a same-sex harassment lawsuit. The lawsuit grew out of a charge filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission by Mark Newton, a mailroom employee who claimed he was subjected to ongoing sexual harassment by a male supervisor. The alleged harassment included inappropriate sexual […]
By Tammy Binford The recession has been discouraging to job seekers of all stripes – those with advanced degrees as well as those without higher education, those in specialized fields and those looking for just any kind of work. Certainly job seekers transitioning out of the military aren’t immune to the difficulties posed by the […]
By Dinita L. James In the case of Collins v. Brewer, a federal judge from Alaska, deciding a case from Arizona, barred the state’s attempt to do away with benefits for same-sex domestic partners of state employees. Earlier this year, there was an argument on the case before a three-judge panel of the Ninth U.S. […]