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Noncompetes– Are They Enforceable or Not?

In the last issue of the Advisor, we covered tips for dealing with noncompetes. Today, more detail on that, plus how to train your supervisors and managers on hiring (and everything else). For some more guidance on dealing with noncompetes, we turned to the HR Red Book (What to Do About Personnel Problems in [Your […]

Disability Discrimination: New Legislation Strengthens Worker Protections

Gov. Davis has signed into law a sweeping measure, A.B. 2222, that strengthens the disability discrimination protections for California employees. Because the new law—which goes into effect Jan. 1, 2001—could bring a flood of new disability-bias lawsuits, it’s more important than ever to use caution when handling accommodation issues.

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 […]

The path to diversity: through a computer?

Could software solve your diversity problems? The National Science Foundation thinks so. The federal agency awarded a $450,000 Small Business Innovation Research grant to the Boulder, Colorado, tech firm OptTek Systems, which plans to build a software application that can improve an organization’s ability to strategically plan and manage its workforce. Issues such as limited […]

E-Alerts: Sexual Orientation Bias: $11 Million Verdict for Gay Manager of Upscale Hotel

A jury in Manhattan, New York, has awarded $11.2 million to the former general manager of Leona Helmsley’s luxury Park Lane Hotel. The worker claimed he was fired because his is gay. Former manager Charles Bell charged that Helmsley embarked on a campaign of harassment against him—and ultimately discharged him after just four months on […]

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 […]

Senate HELP Committee Hears Testimony on Paycheck Fairness Act

The Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee heard extensive testimony this morning on the Paycheck Fairness Act (S. 182; H.R. 11), a bill that proposes numerous changes to the Equal Pay Act of 1963. Among the witnesses present were Representative Rosa DeLauro, who is one of the sponsors of the Act, and Commissioner […]