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How to Inspire, Motivate Employees in 2012

By Stephen D. Bruce, PHR Editor, HR Daily Advisor Christmas experiences with his family, says business and leadership blogger Dan Oswald in a recent edition of The Oswald Letter, have led him to some insights about how to inspire and motivate his employees in the new year. I had a conversation about Christmas the other […]

News Notes: OFCCP Sets Guidelines For “Functional” Affirmative Action Plans

Recent changes to affirmative action program rules permit government contractors to organize plans based around their functional or business units, rather than based solely on an establishment’s location. The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs has now issued guidelines for contractor requests to submit a “functional” affirmative action plan, or FAAP, including whether the functional […]

Supreme Court to Decide if Employers Must Help Pregnant Employees

The U.S. Supreme Court will decide whether the Pregnancy Discrimination Act requires employers to accommodate pregnant employees, it announced July 1. The court agreed to review Young v. United Parcel Service, Inc., a case from last year in which the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that a corporate policy that does not include […]

Early Retirement Program’s Launch Date Moved Up

A part of the massive health care reform law aimed at encouraging employers to offer health insurance to early retirees is set to launch June 1. Regulations for the Early Retirement Reinsurance Program were issued by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on May 4. The program will provide $5 billion for […]

Oklahoma prohibition on same-sex marriages found unconstitutional

by Charles S. Plumb The last several months have witnessed a flurry of court activity regarding same-sex marriage laws. On Tuesday, January 14, Oklahoma joined that activity with an order and opinion issued by Tulsa’s federal court. In 2004, Oklahoma voters approved an amendment to the Oklahoma Constitution defining “marriage” to be exclusively a union […]

Independent Contractors: Maid Company to Pay Big for Misclassification

A federal judge has ordered Southern California Maid Services and Carpet Cleaning, based in Gardena, to pay $3,467,789 in back wages, plus $1,058,973 in liquidated damages, to 385 current and former low-wage domestic workers who were misclassified as independent contractors. The court’s action resolves a lawsuit filed against the employer by the U.S. Department of […]

Wage and Hour: Minimum Wage Going Up in California; What Employers Must Know

When Gov. Schwarzenegger signed legislation last month that will raise California’s minimum wage to $8.00 per hour from the current $6.75 per hour, he put the state on course to have the highest minimum wage in the nation when the full hike takes effect. The rate increase will take effect in two stages: minimum wage […]

Wisconsin becomes latest right-to-work state

On March 9, a signature by Governor Scott Walker made Wisconsin the 25th state to pass right-to-work legislation. The new law means private-sector workers who don’t join a union won’t have to pay what is known as “fair share” payments assessed on workers who are deemed to benefit from union contracts despite their nonunion status. […]

Bias Charge Filings Drop Slightly

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has reported that discrimination charge filings in 2005 were down in all bias categories, and dropped by 5 percent overall. The EEOC received 75,428 charges for the fiscal year 2005 (which ended Sept. 30) and recovered almost $380 million in monetary relief through enforcement actions and litigation. The […]