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Could Layoffs Equal a Class Action?

This should come as no shock, but people don’t like to get fired. And when they do get fired, they look for someone else to blame. Guess who? “You fired me because I’m X (fill in the blank with the name of a protected class).”

Former Verizon Managers Lose Bid to Block Conversion of DB Plan

Large corporations thinking about transferring hefty defined benefit plan payouts to insurance companies for them to manage now have judicial support for that approach. A federal judge in Texas has denied a bid by retired Verizon Communications executives to block the company from making a proposed shift off its books of $7.5 billion in pension […]

No Nonsense Retention: Open Door 80% of the Time

In yesterday’s Advisor, consultant Jeff Cortes said, “Fire the slugs.” Today, more of his timely retention and engagement tips, plus an introduction to the all-in-one HR website, HR.BLR.com. 6. Keep Your Door Open 80% of the Time [Go here for retention tips 1-5.] Let your people know you are accessible to them, says Cortes, author […]

Employee Leaves Of Absence: Law Permitting 40 Hours Leave To Attend Children’s School Activities Revised

Governor Wilson recently approved a measure changing the little-known but important statute that allows employees to take unpaid time off to participate in their children’s school activities. The law continues to apply to private, state and municipal em- ployers who have 25 or more employees working in the same location. Our HR Management & Compliance […]

Wage and Hour: Over $220 Million in Back Wages Recovered by DOL in 2007; Highest Amount Ever

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has announced that in 2007, its Wage and Hour Division recovered $220,613,703 in back wages, the highest amount ever, on behalf of 341,624 workers. These back-wage collections exceeded the previous record levels from 2003 by 3.8 percent. In addition, the division assessed over $10.3 million in penalties in 2007.

DOL Extends Comment Period on Proposed Domestic Caregiver FLSA Exemption

Today the Labor Department extended the comment period for proposed changes to the Fair Labor Standards exemption for domestic caregivers. To date the agency has already received a flood of comments on the proposed regulation which would remove domestic caregivers from the Fair Labor Standards Act’s current exemption from minimum wage and overtime pay. Currently, the FLSA provides […]

Employers Face More Challenges in Covering Same-gender Spouses

Many hoped that the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in U.S. v. Windsor would clear up the confusion regarding what employers and plan administrators can and should do if they have employees with same-gender spouses. Alas, that was not to be. As 2014 approaches, employers face as many complications as ever. Rather than simplifying matters, the […]

Workers’ Compensation: Governor Approves Big Benefits Increase

The state Legislature’s newly approved workers’ comp reform bill (A.B. 749) imposes steep benefit hikes for injured workers that will likely hit employers hard in the pocketbook. After vetoing similar measures three times before, Gov. Davis has now signed the bill into law. We’ll run down the new law’s major provisions.

Compensation: Can We Insist on Salary Confidentiality?

As a result of an upcoming merger, we are going to have a lot of situations in which there is a disparity in salaries. We have a plan for addressing that over a period of three years, but in the meantime, I would like to institute a policy that prohibits employees from discussing their salaries […]

Money Market Reform Proposal Put on Hold; FSOC Might Revive It

SEC efforts to tighten rules on the $2.56 trillion money market fund industry are on indefinite hold. Trade organizations representing the retirement plan and asset management industries wrote a joint letter to SEC Aug. 21 criticizing money market reforms on which the commission was slated to vote Aug. 29. The letter urged SEC not to […]