Practical HR Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
In an important new ruling, the California Supreme Court has held that employees who are harassed by co-workers cannot seek damages from the employees who actually did the harassing. We’ll look at the new ruling and provide an overview of just who can be held liable in this rapidly changing area of the law.
When RJR Nabisco decided to terminate an overfunded pension program, it purchased an annuity from an insurance company to cover its obligations to beneficiaries and plan participants. RJR then sold the pension fund’s assets, netting RJR more than $43 million. But the insurance company it chose to issue the annuity, Executive Life Insurance Company of […]
When Leslie Kohler sued under California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act claiming that her supervisor at Inter-Tel Technologies sexually harassed her, Inter-Tel said it wasn’t liable because it had taken reasonable steps to prevent harassment and Kohler had unreasonably failed to take advantage of the employer’s corrective opportunities by failing to report the incidents. Kohler […]
The California Supreme Court has granted review of the recent Brinker Restaurant Corp. decision. In that case, a California appeals court ruled, among other things, that an employer’s obligation to “provide” meal and rest breaks means that the employer must make the break available and not impede, discourage, or dissuade employees from taking it. Employers, […]
The IRS has issued final/temporary and proposed rules, and a raft of guidance and draft forms related to reporting requirements for employers and individuals under health care reform. The rules and guidance are designed to help individuals and businesses calculate both their penalties if they don’t have health coverage, and subsidies, if they are eligible, […]
President Donald Trump has turned much of traditional American politics on its head, and many of his policies have put some traditional Republican allies in a tough position. While these traditional allies may support some of the president’s policies, they cringe at others. Case in point: the business community.
One in five human resource executives reported a violent workplace episode, according to a new survey of Southern California employers by Thomas Staffing Services in Irvine. Respondents expressed the most concern over fist fights, guns, and obscene or threatening phone calls. Nearly all believed preventive measures such as pre-employment screening, tighter security and employee hotlines […]
The other day, it was pointed out to me that we Americans like to be comfortable. It may seem like I’m stating the obvious here since no one likes to be uncomfortable. And maybe I am, but hear me out on this one. Do you know what the number one selling chair is in America? […]
Many employers are now making the unhappy discovery that their finance and operations people made aggressive exempt-status and other wage and hour-related determinations that are coming back to haunt their organizations in the form of big wage and hour lawsuits and payouts. Attorney Kurt A. Franklin of the San Francisco office of Hanson Bridgett, LLP, […]
Pay budget—always one of the most critical decisions of the year. What’s happening with pay budgets in the real world? How about bonuses? What are your competitors up to? Help us find out! Please participate in our brief survey and see how what you are doing stacks up against what other successful companies are doing. […]