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News Notes: Big Child Labor Settlement

Sears Roebuck & Co. has agreed to pay a $325,000 fine to settle allegations that it violated federal child labor laws. Investigators allegedly found violations involving a total of 227 minors at over 60% of the Sears stores that were investigated. The violations included allowing 16- and 17-year-olds to operate power-driven equipment and letting teens […]

Appeals Court Holds Part of Health Care Reform Law Unconstitutional

On Friday, August 12, the Eleventh U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta held 2-1 that the individual health insurance mandate provision found in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), the comprehensive health care reform legislation that President Barack Obama signed into law in March 2010, is unconstitutional. More specifically, the court found […]

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 […]

EEOC Hearing Highlights Impact of Age Discrimination

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) held a public hearing on July 15 to review recent developments under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA). The panel discussed the effects of widespread layoffs, threats to employee benefits, and controversial recent court decisions on older workers. The panelists testified in detail about the damaging effect […]

Plan Sponsors’ Loyalty to Service Providers Increases, Study Shows

In spite of significant changes now in progress for the fee disclosures required from retirement fund service providers, a study of plan sponsors’ loyalty to these vendors shows increased satisfaction with them. The survey’s results may indicate that new fee transparency rules alone may not sway many plan sponsors to switch providers. The annual study […]

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.

News Notes: No Accomodation Required for Contractor’s Employee

Bernard Lopez was an employee of Applied Technology Associates (ATA), which provided contract computer services for the Navy. Lopez sued the Navy, charging that it violated the disability accommodation requirements of the Rehabilitation Act, which is similar to the Americans with Disabilities Act, when it turned down ATA’s request for a handicap parking permit for […]

Employment Law Tip: Turning Leave Time into Help for Hurricane Victims

If you and your employees are looking for valuable ways to donate to the Hurricane Katrina relief efforts, a new program launched by the Department of the Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service may help you out. In particular, the agencies have announced a program for employees to donate leave in exchange for employer cash […]