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Comments on Smartcard Guidance Include Harsh Assessment of Implementation Process

Even as the IRS announces it plans to issue guidance on the use of smartcards with qualified transportation fringe benefits, public comments on such guidance include allegations of impropriety from one vendor. The IRS asked for input on whether it should issue such guidelines (see related story) last May. Thompson Information Services requested copies of […]

Exempt Employees: Labor Commissioner Won’t Follow Federal Docking Rules, Issues Strict New California Standard

Under federal wage and hour law, employees must be paid a predetermined salary to qualify as exempt from overtime. And there are strict guidelines on when salary docking can jeopardize exempt status. When overhauling state wage and hour laws in 2000 with the passage of A.B. 60, California for the first time adopted similar salary […]

Health Insurance 2013—What’s Really Happening?

It’s going to be a crazy year for health insurance—that’s for sure. How are your competitors going to handle it? How do you match up? Let’s find out. Participate in this brief survey and see how your health benefits stack up against those of other successful companies. The survey takes only a few minutes to […]

Six Keys for Making Employee Network Groups Work

Margaret Rivera, AstraZeneca’s senior manager of diversity, helps oversee 16 successful employee network groups. Here are her tips for making such affinity groups work: 1. Don’t force it. “Companies . . . should understand that the most successful employee groups often start out as grassroots organizations — they are volunteer organizations,” she counsels. 2. Make […]

Bulletin Item: California Supreme Court to Consider Whether Attractiveness Standards May Be Discriminatory

The question of whether a male executive’s standard of attractiveness, which led to the firing of a female employee, violated the California Fair Employment and Housing Act will be answered by the state’s high court. The California Supreme Court has agreed to review Yanowitz v. L’Oreal USA Inc., which we covered in the May 2003 […]

Employment Law Tip: Watch Out for Weingarten Rights

The National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) allows employees, both union and non-union, to engage in “concerted activities for the purpose of mutual aid or protection.” This includes an employee’s right to have a union representative present at an investigatory meeting that the employee reasonably believes could result in discipline.

Handling Sexual Harassment Complaints: Court Considers What Is An Appropriate Response To A Harassment Charge; What One Employer Did Right

If you receive a sexual harassment complaint, you must promptly investigate and impose corrective action to stop the harassment. But it’s less clear what you should do if you can’t substantiate the complaint. A new Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals decision focuses on how far you need to go in this situation.