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New Requirements Without Regs and Regs Without Requirements

As if it weren’t enough of a hassle, FLMA’s just gotten messier. The feds have added “servicemember family” leave—but without the regulations needed to administer it—and “qualifying exigency” leave—not required but “encouraged.” Here’s what you need to know. The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), already HR’s least favorite law, has just gotten more so. […]

Workers’ Compensation: Lawsuit Against Tosco Tries End Run Around Workers’ Comp Limits

A Tosco worker injured in a catastrophic 1999 explosion and fire at the company’s Martinez refinery and the family of another worker killed in the disaster have filed a lawsuit against Tosco. Employees who are injured on the job are generally limited to workers’ comp benefits. But this lawsuit attempts to sidestep this restriction by […]

An HR Bonus for Each Dropped EEOC Charge?

In yesterday’s CED, Hunter Lott of Please Sue Me fame offered his lawsuit avoidance tips. Today, his advice on legal exposure in 2011, plus an introduction to an upcoming event you won’t want to miss.   What percent of charges did the EEOC drop last year? Lott asks. More than 64 percent. “That’s us!” Lott […]

News Notes: OSHA Recommends Workplace Precautions Against West Nile Virus

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 […]

Harassment: San Jose Newspaper Settles Same-Sex Harassment Suit

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 […]

Veterans Soldiering On Through Tough Job Market

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 […]

Ninth Circuit Continues Benefits for Same-Sex Partners of State Employees

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. […]

Getting Started with Succession Planning

Question and answer session with Hal Adler Q: Why is succession planning so important in a tough economy? Hal: Look at it this way. We’ve seen dramatic rebounds in the stock market. This thing could turn around as fast as it got here, but regardless of how long it takes, employers don’t want to be […]

Investment Fee Disclosures Leave Most Participants Unmoved

A “snapshot” survey conducted in October found the start of disclosure of fees from retirement plan service providers spurred little change in the behavior of either plan participants or sponsors. A total of 176 defined contribution plan sponsors responded to the Plan Sponsor Council of America’s survey, launched a few weeks after sponsors began disclosing […]

Hot List: New York Times Bestselling Hardcover Business Books

The following is a list of the bestselling hardcover business books as ranked by the New York Times with data from Nielsen BookScan on July 18. 1. Reckless Endangerment: How Outsized Ambition, Greed, and Corruption Led to Economic Armageddon by Gretchen Morgenson and Joshua Rosner. This account of the Wall Street implosion highlights individuals who […]