Practical HR Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
The cover story in the March issue of California Employer Advisor highlights several important provisions of the new Interim Wage Order, which took effect March 1. Now the Industrial Welfare Commission has announced that it will hold a hearing to discuss proposed changes to the wage order. The hearing will take place in Sacramento on March 31. Some […]
By Gulu Punia and Jennifer Shepherd Deciding to retain a contractor rather than an employee can be the right decision depending on the needs of a business. But there are risks. If a court determines that the relationship is in fact an employment relationship, the employer can be liable. Such was the case in M.A.P. […]
In yesterday’s Advisor, we covered the tricky questions around certification for FMLA military caregiver leave. Today, doubling up on military caregiver leave, and an introduction to the best-selling “FMLA Bible. May an employee take back-to-back military caregiver leave for more than one seriously injured or ill servicemember? Yes. By regulation, military caregiver leave is a […]
By BLR Founder and CEO Bob Brady Today BLR founder and CEO Bob Brady looks at the pros—and many cons—of e-mail and meetings, and he asks for your opinions about the biggest e-mail annoyances. Which wastes more time, e-mail or meetings? According to no less an authority than the New York Times, the economy loses […]
It’s that time again; employers and their employees are getting ready to vote. It is an exciting time that engenders a good deal of discussion—and probably some arguments—at coffee machines and in lunchrooms. As with many areas of employment law, a patchwork quilt of federal and state laws governs the employer interface with political issues. […]
Employers still have to contend with plenty of uncertainty regarding employees’ same-gender spouses, regardless of the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in U.S. v. Windsor (No. 12-307, June 26, 2013). That decision may have declared Section 3 of the federal Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional, but it was a narrow ruling that left divergent state laws […]
by Donald M. Harrison Will health care reform affect workers’ comp? Even though the term “workers’ compensation” isn’t mentioned in the bill, I anticipate both direct and indirect effects on workers’ comp. Most of the consequences are unknown at this time and may not be known for several years, but two direct results are already […]
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) held a half-day program on January 27, 2026, focused on employee noncompetes. The FTC indicated its intent to pursue prosecution of agreements that violate antitrust or otherwise inappropriately limit employee choice. However, the commission is not reproposing the prior rule banning all noncompetes. If workers have issues, the agency suggests […]
The House Subcommittee on Workforce Protections postponed its hearing on controversial regulations extending minimum wage and overtime protections to home health aides, scheduled for March 7, due to the death of Representative Donald M. Payne, D-N.J., a senior member of the panel.
By Tammy Binford The recession has been discouraging to job seekers of all stripes – those with advanced degrees as well as those without higher education, those in specialized fields and those looking for just any kind of work. Certainly job seekers transitioning out of the military aren’t immune to the difficulties posed by the […]