Practical HR Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
Cell phones, BlackBerry®, PDAs, iPod® devices, personal laptops, and flash memory sticks—they’re in your workplace, perhaps by the dozens, but are they posing more dangers than you know? Our experts sort it out. Especially now that gift-giving season has come and gone, you are probably seeing them in your workplace … gadgets! Everything from iPods […]
A new U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) rule gives employers some relief regarding their ability to reduce or eliminate retirees’ healthcare benefits once they become eligible for Medicare. Such a reduction or elimination will not violate the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), the federal statute that prohibits age-based discrimination, the new rule states. […]
The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009 changed the scope of claims for pay discrimination, stating that each additional paycheck issued under a discriminatory pay decision constitutes a new act of discrimination, which then resets the clock on the limited time during which employees may file suit. In a unanimous decision issued Monday, the […]
The antiretaliation provisions of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) new electronic record-keeping rule are set to be implemented on December 1 after a Texas federal judge denied a request for a preliminary injunction on November 28. The eventual fate of the rule isn’t known since Judge Sam Lindsay of the U.S. District Court […]
Morgan Stanley has agreed to pay $54 million to settle a class-action lawsuit accusing the banking firm of sex discrimination. The suit was brought in 2001 by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and charged that Morgan Stanley discriminated against women in its Institutional Equity division with respect to promotions, compensation, and other terms and […]
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) has published a final regulation requiring pension plans to file Form 5500 annual reports electronically, beginning with 2008 plan year filings (due in 2009). The agency has also proposed changes to update the forms that will be used under the new electronic system. For information […]
by Nicole Singh In May 2015, the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario issued an unprecedented decision when it awarded two temporary foreign workers more than $200,000 in damages for injury to dignity, feelings, and self-respect resulting from sexual harassment in employment.
In yesterday’s Advisor, we offered tips from attorney Stephen Harris on what to do when threatened with legal action. Today, we’ll look at Harris’s steps after initial fact-finding, plus an introduction to a unique tool to help with all your policy-making needs. Harris, of the law firm Wiggin & Dana in Hartford, Connecticut, delivered his […]
I came away from last week’s health care summit scratching my head. What exactly was accomplished that moved our country one step closer to resolution of the health care debate? From what I can tell, absolutely nothing. There was certainly plenty of posturing. Both Democrats and Republicans pretended to be interested in working with the […]
Several food-processing plants across the country have been in the news as they grapple with the requests of increasing numbers of Muslim workers seeking religious accommodations. Three disputes — all at meatpacking plants — centered on prayer breaks, especially important at Ramadan. During that month (which varies from year to year because it’s set on […]