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News Notes: Ruling Okays Taco Bell Managers’ Class Action Lawsuit Over Wage And Hour Violations

A trial court has given the go-ahead to a class action overtime lawsuit by 2,300 California Taco Bell managers and assistant managers. The workers allege that they were misclassified as exempt employees and wrongfully denied overtime pay by the restaurant chain. They claim that they spent more than half of their working time performing nonmanagerial […]

Staying Current in HR 2011 Survey Results

Human resources and employment law information — like everything else — is available in multiple formats from multiple sources. So whom do HR pros trust to help them stay current on human resources and employment law issues and in what format? Each year we ask our  readers to tell us about their favorite sources to […]

Employment Law Tip: A Performance Appraisal Check-Up

A performance appraisal system is key to helping employees grow and develop on the job and can help you to identify and reward your top performers. At the same time, a good system will assist you in identifying sub-par performers and developing plans to either improve their performance or weed them out. And, in today’s […]

Hiring Temporary Workers: EEOC Says Both You And The Staffing Agency Are On The Hook For ADA Compliance

Many employers don’t know they may have Americans with Disabilities Act obligations when they hire temps or other contingent workers through a staffing agency. New Equal Employment Opportunity Commission guidelines hold employers and staffing agencies—including temporary employment agencies, contract firms and employee leasing companies—jointly responsible for ADA compliance. Employment Offers And Disability-Related Questions The staffing […]

How To Avoid Termination-Related Lawsuits

Terminated employees will rarely bow out gracefully and say, “Yes—I completely understand why you’re making this decision.” Best-case scenario, they go quietly. Worst-case scenario, you wind up defending a nightmare lawsuit. Ill-considered and hasty terminations are particularly problematic. They spell lawsuit time and time again. Yet most of those lawsuits are avoidable — if you […]

OSHA Going for Record Fine Against BP

Signals that the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is ramping up enforcement became clearer with the levying of a record $87,430,000 proposed penalty against BP Products North America Inc. on October 30. The previous largest penalty, $21 million, was issued in 2005, also against BP, according to OSHA. OSHA levied the proposed penalty […]

Third Time Not the Charm for California School District

A California sexual harassment case was tried by a jury three times. The first time, the jury found in favor of the school district. The second time, a mistrial was declared before a verdict was rendered. The third time, the jury awarded the employee $199,399 for her sexual harassment claim. Read on for the details.

Faithfully expecting: religious accommodations and employer-mandated vaccination policies

An “informal discussion letter” from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) indicates that employers should carefully weigh religious objections by pregnant employees, specifically in the context of employer-mandated vaccination policies. Background In February 2012, a healthcare provider wrote the EEOC requesting a formal interpretation of the application of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act […]

Class Actions—Go on Offense to Avoid Them

In yesterday’s Advisor, we profiled Seyfarth Shaw’s eight trends that make class actions a real danger for every HR department. Today, key issues and an introduction to a unique training system that will help you avoid class actions altogether. Seyfarth Shaw LLP’s Annual Workplace Class Action Litigation Report suggests HR managers take note of the […]