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News Flash: Sexual Harassment

Vanessa Bailey, a gardener at Balboa Park in Encino, complained that she was sexually harassed by her co-workers. Bailey claimed, among other things, that while she was in a city truck, a co-worker exposed himself to her and another had magazines showing naked women. Bailey also said that a park supervisor kissed her against her […]

Mental Health Parity Act Effective Date Delayed

Update: Mental Health Parity Changes Take Effect January 1, 2010 Congress deferred the effective date of the Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 to January 2010 for plans that otherwise would have been covered in 2009. The Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act amends the Employee […]

Court: Accommodation That Eliminates Essential Functions Is “Per Se” Unreasonable

Allowing an employee to sit for half of her shift, thereby eliminating several job duties, is “per se” unreasonable, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia has found. The case, EEOC v. Eckerd Corp. (d/b/a Rite Aid) (No. 1:10-CV-2816-JEC (N.D. Ga., July 9, 2012)), involved Fern Strickland, a drugstore cashier with osteoarthritis […]

Final HITECH Omnibus Rules Tighten Breach Notification

The HITECH Act is now here in full. The whole litany of tighter privacy and security requirements is in the long-awaited, long-delayed “omnibus” rules finalized Jan. 17 by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and most of these will have to be met by this Sept. 23. The omnibus rules also include changes […]

Maryland parental leave law takes effect October 1

by Kevin C. McCormick Maryland’s new Parental Leave Act (PLA), which grants unpaid parental leave benefits to employees working for some employers too small to be eligible for leave under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), will take effect October 1. The PLA requires employers with 15 to 49 employees to provide unpaid […]

Federal government touts increase in employment of people with disabilities

When President Obama signed Executive Order 13548 on July 26, 2010, he specifically set a goal of hiring 100,000 people with disabilities by 2015. The U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) not only lead federal agencies in the first two quarters of 2012 with 4.2 percent of all new hires being people with disabilities, the agency […]

Technology can make the workplace more accessible to the disabled

by Tammy Binford It’s natural to question what the future will bring to the workplace. How many more resources will the Internet make available? What new apps have the potential to revolutionize the world of work? How will technology enable employees to overcome disabilities? The questions – and answers – seem limitless as technology advances […]

Our Readers Talk Back: ‘No Jerks’ Proposal Brings Out ‘C.A.V.E. People’ and ‘Loyal Oppositionists’

By BLR Founder and CEO Bob Brady Bob Brady’s recent column on whether to have a “No jerks!” rule banning antagonistic empoyees brought intriguing responses. One reader expects “a little jerkiness” in everyone, and another invokes the “C.A.V.E.” rule. Here’s a sampling: “C.A.V.E. People and Loyal Oppositionists” “We’ve coined the phrase ‘C.A.V.E. people’ [standing for] […]

Holidays PTO Survey: Maximum Weeks Jury Duty Pay

Jury Duty: What is the number of paid weeks per year offered for jury duty?   Less that 2 weeks 2-4 weeks 5+ weeks No limit Exempt Employees 269 (33.6%) 127 (15.9%) 9 (1.1%) 386 (48.3%) Nonexempt Employees 266 (33.3%) 123 (15.4%) 9 (1.1%) 376 (47%)   Previous       Next

Employer Mandate Delayed: Obama Gives in to Employer Concerns over Reform

In a startling move, the Obama administration delayed the employer mandate (for companies with 50 or more workers) to offer health insurance to workers or pay a penalty, until January 2015 (a one-year delay) while it reassesses employer reporting burdens and gives employers more time to arrange compliance with the health care reform statute and […]