Most Popular

Collective Bargaining – Now It’s Constitutionally Protected

by Donovan Plomp McCarthy Tetrault In a landmark decision, the Supreme Court of Canada has decided collective bargaining is a right protected in the national constitution. The court’s extension of “freedom of association” under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms to include a right to collective bargaining is a reversal of previous Supreme Court decisions.

It’s 9 A.M. Do You Know Where Your HR Records Are?

In the last Advisor, we covered issues surrounding electronic recordkeeping. Today, more principles plus how to get your questions answered at a timely BLR webinar on this increasingly relevant HR topic. Electronic recordkeeping is wonderful in many ways, but the pitfalls are varied and deep, as we saw in yesterday’s issue. To skirt those danger […]

D.C. Council approves bill providing paid family leave

The District of Columbia Council approved a bill on December 20 requiring employers to give workers eight weeks’ paid leave for the birth, adoption, or foster placement of a child. Employers will pay for the leave through a payroll tax. In addition to the eight weeks of parental leave, the Universal Paid Leave Amendment Act […]

News Notes: Attorneys Wind Up In Court After Starting Their Own Firm

A California appeals court has upheld a $150,000 misappropriation of trade secrets judgment in favor of Pasadena-based law firm Robert L. Reeves & Associates, which sued two attorneys who resigned from the firm to start their own firm. Reeves charged that the attorneys improperly persuaded a group of Reeves’ employees to join the new firm […]

More low-wage worker strikes are set for August 29

Fast-food and other low-wage workers who have staged strikes in a handful of cities around the country in recent months are planning to take their efforts nationwide on August 29. Strikers and their supporters are calling for $15 an hour as well as more protections for workers interested in unionizing. The latest wave of strikes […]

Paying Foreign and Canadian Crews Comparable Wages Not Good Enough

By Thora Sigurdson, Nicola Sutton, and Derek Knoechel SELI Canada Inc. entered into a joint venture with SNC Lavalin and successfully bid on a contract to build a large rapid transit project in the Vancouver area. The so-called “Canada Line” has been a “hot button” project, causing heated debate about the cost to taxpayers, the […]

Does ADA Block Swine Flu Inquiries?

Everyone’s wondering what to do about swine flu, although some surveys show that companies haven’t done much yet. When you do act, you could run smack into the ADA if you’re not careful. Among other things, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) regulates when and how employers may require a medical examination or request disability-related […]

SHRM 2011: Overlap of ADA, FMLA a Top Concern

If attendance at a conference session is any indication, HR professionals remain concerned about how to navigate the intersection of the Americans With Disabilities Act and the Family and Medical Leave Act. Now that the Americans With Disabilities Amendments Act has altered the definition of “disability,” it is more common than ever for the  laws […]

Federal Contractors Beware: Employees Can Sue For Additional Wages in California

Federal Contractors Beware: Employees Can Sue For Additional Wages in California If you’ve ever contracted to do work for a federal agency, then you’re probably intimately familiar with the federal Service Contract Act of 1965 (SCA)—which spells out what employers working on federal contracts have to pay their employees. Now a California Court of Appeal […]