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Schumer to Introduce Transit Parity Bill

Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) said that he was planning to introduce a bill to make permanent the parity between parking and transit tax breaks. Schumer argues that programs that make commuting less expensive should be protected, particularly in a time of economic hardship. The matter strikes close to home for Schumer, since his constituents include […]

How To Craft Airtight Arbitration Agreements

Yesterday, we looked at a recent California court case that highlighted the various factors you need to think about when you draft your arbitration agreements—as well as how you present them to employees. Today, some tips for success.

PCORI Fees–Your Turn to Fund health Care Research

Get ready for one more requirement of the Affordable Care Act—the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) Fee. It’s a fee your plan pays to fund government research into the effectiveness of certain treatments. What Is the Amount of the Fee? The fee is: $1 times the average covered lives for policy years ending on or […]

Hot List: BusinessWeek’s Best Seller List

BusinessWeek magazine ranks the 15 best selling hardcover and paperback business books in March 2009 and gives a short summary. 1. Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell. As you’d expect with Gladwell, there are lots of surprises in his explanation of why some people succeed fantastically. Pluck and smarts get less play here […]

Transit Benefit Parity: Train Has Left the Station

Employers will not have any reason to adjust their qualified transportation fringe benefit plans — not as a result of a major highway funding bill that recently became law, anyway. That bill, known as the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century, or MAP-21, once had a transit benefit parity provision in it, which […]

News Flash: Interim Wage Order Under Fire; More Changes May Be Coming

 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 […]

Proposed FMLA Rule Changes on Forms and More

Yesterday, we looked at some of the proposed changes to the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) in areas relating to military leave. Today, a look at the other proposed changes, courtesy of Mark Schickman and Cathleen Yonahara, both attorneys at Freeland Cooper & Foreman LLP in San Francisco.

Leave Policies: Why You Can’t Automatically Terminate A Disabled Employee Whose Leave Runs Out

Zenaida Garcia-Ayala was working as a secretary for drug manufacturer Lederle Parenterals Inc. when she was diagnosed with breast cancer. Lederle held her job open during several disability leaves while she underwent multiple surgeries, chemotherapy and ultimately a bone marrow transplant. But when Garcia-Ayala’s leave finally ran out, the company fired her. She then filed […]

Bulletin Item: U.S. Supreme Court Has A Number of Employment-Related Cases on 2003-2004 Docket

Those cases include General Dynamics Land Systems Inc. v. Cline, where the high court will consider whether the federal age-bias law permits employees over age 40 to sue because other workers also over age 40 were treated more favorably based on age. In Raytheon Co. v. Hernandez, the justices will decide whether the Americans with […]