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Maryland Takes Step Toward $15 Minimum Wage

In a widely expected move, the Maryland General Assembly has approved a significant increase in the state’s minimum wage by voting for legislation aimed at increasing the current rate of $10.10 per hour to $15 by 2025.

7 Deadly Timeclock Sins

The following 7 deadly sins were explained by Sandra Rappaport, Esq., an attorney at the San Francisco office of law firm Hanson Bridgett LLP. Rappaport made her remarks at ERI’s recent 2010 California Employment Law Update conference, held at the Westin St. Francis in San Francisco.

Your Telecommuters are Working…Aren’t They?

Telecommuting allows employees to work part or all of their standard workweek from a remote location, “seamlessly commuting” by e-mail, cell phones, and virtual private networks. (Editor’s note: It’s not always “seamless.”)

DOL Cleanup Regs Enact Technical Changes While Rejecting More Substantive Concerns

On April 5, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued a set of final “cleanup” regulations, bringing the existing Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) regulations up to date with the technical changes and statutory enactments that have passed over the past few years. For example, the regulations, which took effect today, update figures and computations […]

Marijuana Disclaimer Must Be Crystal Clear, Court Rules

California law prohibits employers from asking job applicants about most marijuana-related convictions that are more than two years old. A new California appeals court decision, Starbucks v. Superior Court (Lords), highlights the fact that employers must be extremely clear with applicants that they are not seeking this barred info.

What are diversity managers paid?

What are diversity managers paid? A recent Altman Weil Flash Survey of 80 large law firms revealed that the median annual total cash compensation for diversity managers at those organizations is $184,000, up 5.1 percent from 2007. Other findings: diversity managers who are lawyers take home a median $195,000, and nonlawyer professionals earn $162,500; the […]

NLRB Gives Big-box Retailer Bad News About Social Media Policy

In recently finding that the social media policy of Costco Wholesale Corp. violated federal labor law, the National Labor Relations Board took its scrutiny of such employer policies to the next level: This the first time that the full board has ruled on the issue. And the NLRB decision was merely based upon what the […]

Tip Eight: Transfer the Employee

–Transfer the employee to a position where absences are less disruptive. The law permits this, as long as pay and benefits remain equivalent to the previous job. Go to Tip Nine

Computers: Ninth Circuit Reconsiders Computer Privacy Ruling; the Importance of Having a Monitoring Policy

Last year, the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, which covers California, ruled that employees cannot expect privacy when using workplace computers if their employer has an electronic monitoring policy in place. But now, the Ninth Circuit has revisited that ruling—this time finding that the employee indeed had an expectation of privacy for the computer […]

DOL Uses Demographics to Push Back Against Critics of Obama’s Minimum Wage Proposals

The Obama administration is working to keep its minimum wage hike proposal in the public eye, and simultaneously appears to be pushing back against critics who charge that raising the minimum wage would not help working families. On Feb. 28, the U.S. Department of Labor released a report detailing the demographic characteristics of minimum wage […]