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Wage and Hour: Wal-Mart to Pay $3.9 Million to California Workers

The California Labor Commissioner has reached an agreement with Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., resolving charges that the retail giant underpaid overtime and other wages. Under the terms of the settlement, Wal-Mart will pay $3.9 million in overtime, waiting time penalties, and interest to approximately 50,000 current and former Wal-Mart workers in California. Earlier this year, Wal-Mart […]

Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity Protection Considered

By Stephen J. Stine The categories of persons entitled to legal protection under federal antidiscrimination law have remained the same for almost 20 years. The last major expansion of federal antidiscrimination protection occurred in 1990, when Congress enacted the Americans with Disabilities Act to protect individuals with an actual or perceived disability or a history […]

Retaliation: Court Upholds $2.3 Million Verdict for Employee Who Claimed He Was Fired Over Safety Complaints; Tips for Avoiding Problems

You probably know it’s illegal to retaliate against a worker who complains in good faith about an unsafe work condition. But in practice, retaliation problems are not always so clear-cut, and they can sneak up on you. They often arise when an employee with a history of complaining starts griping about something you feel is […]

Announcing a Special BLR Audio Conference: EEO-1 Revised: What You Have to Do Now

The annual EEO-1 report, due each September and covering 50 million workers, has finally been revised. Your first revised report will be due this fall, but you need to be collecting data in the new way right now. This article…plus a special BLR audio conference on Feb. 20… will help you do it right. It […]

Missouri Teachers: Don’t “Friend” Your Students

A new Missouri Senate Bill is taking aim at teachers who use social networking to communicate with their students. According to MSNBC, Senate Bill 54, which goes into effect on August 28, is quickly becoming known as the “Facebook law.” Though the law primarily offers liabilities for school districts who fail to disclose suspected or […]

News Notes: Big Overtime Settlements Reached

The U.S. Department of Labor has announced two sizable overtime settlements with Southern California employers. VCI Telecom Inc., an Upland telecommunications company, has agreed to pay $1,074,375 to settle charges levied by the DOL for not paying overtime to 227 employees. And flooring and tile company Lambard Inc., based in Ontario, will fork over $228,156 […]

EEOC Vice-Chair: What’s Particularly Important for Employers?

  In yesterday’s Advisor, Leslie Silverman talked employers through changes at EEOC and OFCCP. Today, her tips for complying with the new ADA—ADAAA (ADA Amendments Act), which became effective January 1, 2009. Silverman, a partner at Proskauer, LLP, in Washington, D.C., and former vice chair of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), offered her take […]

New DOL Rules Require More Disclosure to Workers with 401(k) Retirement Plans

Forty years ago, very few U.S. employees were personally affected by what happened on Wall Street. Six in 10 Americans were covered by a pension that they could count on regardless of the stock market. Today less than 2 in 10 workers in the private sector have a pension and most workers only option is […]

Training Can Help Close Economy-Related Skills Gaps

In a Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) poll, 66 percent of respondents reported having a hard time recruiting for specific job openings, up from 52 percent in 2011. “The Ongoing Impact of the Recession—Recruiting and Skills Gaps” found that recruiting challenges vary by industry, but highly skilled positions—scientists, engineers, technicians, programmers, nurses, doctors, and […]