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DOL Finalizes FMLA Military Exigency Rules, Including Intermittent leave

The U.S. Department of Labor on Feb. 5 finalized a long-awaited rule ensuring that families of eligible veterans have the same right to job-protected FMLA leave as families of military service members. The final rule also ensures the rights of military families to take leave to attend to financial matters and other types of day-to-day issues […]

Wage Disputes: California Appeals Court Says Exempt Corporate Executives Are Protected Too

Most employers know that exempt, salaried employees aren’t covered by California’s overtime requirements. But as a California appeals court decision points out, that doesn’t mean that other state Labor Code wage protections similarly don’t apply to exempt workers.   Pay Dispute Arises David Mazur was vice president of sales and marketing at On-Line Power, Inc., […]

Americans With Disabilities Act: New Ruling Examines Standards For Refusing To Employ Workers Who May Be At Risk For Injury

An employee has a history of fainting spells, and you’re worried that during one of these episodes the person may injure herself or another worker. What are your options? Although the Americans with Disabilities Act allows you to fire or refuse to hire an employee who poses a “direct threat” to herself or others, a […]

News Notes: NLRB Rejects “30%” Wage Hiring Rule

  Contractors Labor Pool is a major supplier of construction trade labor to nonunion contractors in the western United States. CPL implemented a new hiring guideline, based on a company retention study, under which it refused to hire applicants whose most recent job was at a pay level that was more than 30% above starting […]

Supreme Court ruling bolsters use of mandatory arbitration

by Charles S. Plumb Employers requiring employees to submit disputes to mandatory arbitration rather than filing a lawsuit got a boost from a November 26 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in an Oklahoma case. In the case, two employees of Nitro-Lift, a provider of services to oil and gas well operators, left their jobs to work […]

May 2011: Older Americans Month

In 1963, President John F. Kennedy designated May as Senior Citizens Month, encouraging the nation to pay tribute in some way to older people across the country. In 1980, a proclamation by President Jimmy Carter changed the name to Older Americans Month, a time to celebrate those 65 and older through ceremonies, events, and public […]

How I learned to Love Meetings (and Other Truths)

By BLR Founder and Publisher Bob Brady Meetings. Don’t you just hate them? You know the joke about holding a meeting to decide whether to hold a meeting? It rings true. Meetings are huge time wasters. Or are they? Over the years I’ve read articles and heard speeches about how to eliminate meetings. “Hold them […]

Amazon Go Stores Show Future of Automation

Fears of artificial intelligence (AI) and automation taking people’s jobs are increasingly common as new technologies emerge that seem to make many aspects of certain jobs—especially routine, low-skilled labor jobs—potentially obsolete. We’ve written a lot about how these fears are often overblown.