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A coal mine in Birmingham, Ala. will pay $40,000 to settle allegations it failed to reassign a worker with a disability, in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Rocky Davis had hearing loss and was regularly assigned to an area of the mine that adversely affected his hearing aids, according to the U.S. Equal […]
The first case, Meacham v. Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory, involved an employer’s decision to lay off 31 employees, 30 of whom were age 40 or older. The workers sued, claiming the layoffs had a disparate impact on older workers in violation of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA). The employer claimed it based its […]
The Department of Homeland Security’s U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has delayed the implementation of a new rule and new Form I-9 (Employment Eligibility Verification) governing the types of acceptable identity and employment authorization documents that employees may present to their employers.
The IRS and Treasury Departments recently published final regulations providing guidance on the new Roth 401(k) plans, along with a handy list of questions and answers about these plans. Designated Roth contributions allow for employees to designate all or a portion of their 401(k) employee deferrals as Roth contributions, which would receive treatment much like […]
The U.S. Departments of Labor (DOL), Health and Human Services, and the Treasury recently published interim final regulations in the Federal Register that implement the Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 (MHPAEA). These regulations are effective April 5, 2010, and apply to plan years beginning on or […]
Production line employees at the IBP Inc. meat processing plant in Pasco, Washington, are required to be at their workstations as the first piece of meat comes down the line. Before taking their positions, the employees must prepare their work tools and change into protective gear, such as sanitary aprons, metalmesh leggings, Kevlar gloves, and […]
by Kevin McCormick Maryland has become the first state to enact password protection legislation designed to prohibit employers from requiring applicants and employees to disclose their personal passwords to social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace. The legislation was passed April 9 and is expected to be signed by Governor Martin O’Malley. If […]
Yesterday’s Advisor covered hiring mistakes Today we look at other common goofs managers make and a BLR program uniquely designed to help smaller HR departments avoid them. Yesterday, we described major hiring mistakes companies make, per the research of top consultancy, Gevity HR. These include relying exclusively on traditional sources, failing to market your organization […]
The U.S. Supreme Court has handed down an important new ruling that could open the floodgates for claims by employees charging that their employers mishandled retirement accounts. The new case involved James LaRue, who filed a lawsuit under ERISA—the federal law that governs employee benefits—claiming that his employer’s failure to follow his investment directions under […]
Auto parts manufacturer Kelsey-Hayes Co. gave employees a summary plan description of their employee benefits plan stating that health insurance would continue at no cost when they retired. The summary didn’t mention the company had the right to modify or terminate benefits, even though the master health care plan paperwork did. Later, when Kelsey-Hayes informed […]