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News Flash: Workplace Legislation Update

There is a lot of important new legislation affecting the workplace that Gov. Davis has signed into law. As the final hour for approving legislation approached, the governor vetoed bills to increase workers’ comp benefits, boost unemployment payments, expand leave for family and medical care, ban secret monitoring of employee e-mail and computer records, and […]

News Notes: New HIPPA Enforcement Rule Issued

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recently published the first in a series of interim enforcement rules under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. The interim rule took effect May 19, 2003, and expires Sept. 16, 2003. It sets out procedures for conducting investigations and hearings and imposing civil penalties for violations […]

News Notes: Court Gives Go-Ahead to Sex Harassment Lawsuit

The Ninth Circuit has reversed a lower court’s dismissal of an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission lawsuit charging Pasadena-based law firm Reeves & Associates with sexual harassment and pregnancy discrimination. According to the appeals court, a jury could find that a hostile work environment was created because of founder Robert L. Reeves’ alleged sexual jokes, leering, […]

Americans with Disabilities Act: New EEOC Fact Sheet Guides You in Accommodating Diabetics in Your Workplace

During the past five years, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has seen a 13 percent increase in the number of charges filed under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) alleging discrimination based on diabetes. And according to the Centers for Disease Control, approximately one million cases of diabetes are diagnosed each year in the […]

Federal Minimum Wage Increases on July 24

On July 24, 2009, the federal minimum wage will increase to $7.25 per hour. The increase is the result of a May 2007 amendment to the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), which boosted the minimum wage in three steps. The first two steps — to $5.85 and then a year later to $6.55 — were […]

Should All New Hires Have a STEM Education or Work Background?

Science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education is becoming vital to workplaces powered by automation, artificial intelligence, machine learning, and advanced mobile and technology platforms. But should all new hires come pre-equipped with such STEM education or work experiences?

House Passes Health Care Reform Repeal Legislation

On Wednesday, January 19, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Repealing the Job-Killing Health Care Law Act (H.R. 2), a largely symbolic bill that would repeal the health care reform legislation enacted last year, in a 245-189 vote. The new legislation, backed unanimously by House Republicans, would repeal the Patient Protection and Affordable Care […]