Practical HR Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
Regulations implementing expansions to the Family and Medical Leave Act will be proposed Monday, the White House announced today. The 2009 legislative amendments added FMLA coverage for caregivers of wounded and ill service members and veterans. It also provided eligible employees the ability to take FMLA leave to tend to “qualifying exigencies” stemming from a […]
A new measure introduced in the U.S. Senate would remove existing caps on compensatory and punitive damages an individual can recover in an employment discrimination lawsuit. The new legislation, titled the Equal Remedies Act of 2007 and authored by Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., is aimed at eliminating damages caps that were implemented a decade and […]
A number of workplace-related bills considered last year in Sacramento and Washington have cropped up again—and could have a big impact on employers—from workers’ comp reform to a ban on secret e-mail monitoring.
The U.S. Supreme Court recently heard oral arguments regarding a challenge to the massive health care reform law, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), enacted in March 2010. The Court revealed how important it considers this case by hearing around six hours of oral arguments over the span of three days, when it […]
First rule of auditing: Before you start, get legal advice on how to keep the results confidential. Otherwise, in the event of a suit, you’ll likely have to reveal the results of your audit. And the second rule of auditing: Be sure that management is willing to make corrections if infractions are found. If your […]
A new California Supreme Court ruling makes it much easier for employees to sue you for unpaid wages—not just for themselves, but also on behalf of their co-workers. We’ll explain the facts that led to this decision and suggest ways to minimize the possibility you’ll be hit with one of these wage claims.
It’s important to be extra careful when evaluating the abilities of an employee who was previously injured and wants to come back to work. Unless you carefully consider the individual’s current skills and recent medical reports, deciding that the worker can’t perform certain tasks can expose you to an expensive discrimination lawsuit for erroneously regarding […]
New supervisors don‘t understand their new power, says attorney Jeffrey Wortman, and HR Managers had better teach them about it before they make an expensive mistake. Wortman’s comments were part of a wide-ranging discussion delivered to an enthusiastic audience at BLR’s Second Annual National Employment Law Update, held last week in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Next […]
In just a few days, the East Coast was struck by an earthquake and Hurricane Irene. As one colleague put it: What’s next, a swarm of locusts? Hopefully, all that is next for businesses adversely impacted by these events is cleaning-up and recovering so that normal operations can resume as quickly as possible. Companies should […]
Yokohama Tire Corp. employee Christopher Miller sued under RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations), the federal organized crime statute, charging Yokohama conducted a fraudulent scheme to deny employees overtime. Miller claimed high-ranking Yokohama employees falsely told him and other workers they weren’t entitled to overtime pay because they were salaried, and that every time Yokohama […]