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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 […]

Contractors for Storm Clean-up Pose Misclassification Risks

Hurricane Sandy’s path of destruction has left many homeowners, municipalities and businesses in need of reconstruction and repairs — and when such weather-related disasters require massive reconstruction efforts, many landscapers and builders hire subcontractors to help. Increased joint employer liability, particularly in those industries that frequently use subcontractors, often goes hand-in-hand with worker misclassification. Employers […]

News Notes: Ninth Circuit Says Alter-Ego Employees Jointly Liable for Unpaid Wages

According to a new Ninth Circuit ruling, a group of health care employees who worked more than 40 hours a week, with the time split between two employers, was eligible for overtime pay because the companies qualified as a single enterprise. The two companies, A-One Health Care and Alternative Rehabilitation, had substantially merged their operations […]

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 […]

DOL Replaces Q&A to Clarify Brokerage Windows Policy

By Jane Meacham The U.S. Department of Labor on July 30 quickly revised its field assistance bulletin on retirement plan fee disclosures to clarify a contested question’s impact on so-called brokerage windows and self-directed accounts, which allow plan participants to select investments beyond those designated by an employer-sponsored plan. In the clarification, a new question […]

Short Takes: Harassment Training for Temps

I have a question about sexual harassment training. We have 35 full-time regular employees and usually about 40 or 50 temporaries. The temps work for months at a time, but we release them during slow periods. I think the law says you have to provide harassment training if you have 50 or more employees. Do we […]

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.

Election 2008 white paper, time off to vote state laws, sample policy

With the 2008 election in its final days, employers must brace for significant employment law changes. HRHero.com has produced a free white paper on 6 potential employment law changes under new leadership in Washington. The white paper also includes a chart of time off to vote laws taken from HR Hero’s 50 Employment Laws in […]

Another New Jersey city requires paid sick time

by Michael H. Dell Morristown has joined the list of New Jersey cities that require employers to provide paid sick time to employees. Employers in Morristown have until January 11 to come into compliance with the city’s paid sick time ordinance, which was passed in September. Under the ordinance, employers with 10 or more employees […]