Most Popular

News Flash: Workers’ Comp Covers Employee’s Cosmetic Surgery

A California Court of Appeal has ruled that a mechanic whose face was disfigured in a workplace explosion can have cosmetic surgery covered by workers’ compensation. The mechanic suffered severe burns when a welding torch ignited a fireball inside the fiber glass tank he was dismantling. The state Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board had determined that […]

Can We Change Our Normal Retirement Age?

  Why is the Normal Retirement Age in defined benefit plans, like ours, usually age 65? Can we change our Normal Retirement Age? – Nancy C., Berkeley 400+ pages of state-specific, easy-read reference materials at your fingertips—fully updated! Check out the Guide to Employment Law for California Employers and get up to speed on everything […]

Americans With Disabilities Act: EEOC Issues New Guidelines On When You Do—And Don’t—Have To Accommodate Disabled Employees

The federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has released comprehensive guidelines designed to help its investigators analyze complaints-and help employers comply with their accommodation obligations-under the Americans with Disabilities Act. The new enforcement guide attempts to answer frequently asked employer questions on a range of topics-from how to handle medical verification of a disability to when […]

Employment Law Tip: Get Ready to Post Cal-OSHA 300A Form

Beginning February 1 and through April 30, 2006, you’re required to post the Cal-OSHA Form 300A annual summary log of injuries and illnesses that occurred in 2005. Even if you had no recordable injuries or illnesses in 2005, you must still post a summary with zeros in the total line. This posting requirement applies to […]

Imminent Canadian federal election unlikely to affect labor law

by Karen Sargeant Americans are not the only ones going to the polls for a federal election this year. Canadians are on their way, too. Despite a planned federal election for October 2009, the Prime Minister just called a federal election, to take place on October 14, 2008. So how would this election affect labor […]

Hot List: New York Times Bestselling Paperback Business Books

The following is a list of the bestselling paperback business books as ranked by the New York Times on November 24. 1. The Forgotten Man: A New History of the Great Depression by Amity Shales. A reinterpretation of the New Deal and the Great Depres­sion. 2. The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism by […]

NLRB coming after employer’s blog/internet policy

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has filed a complaint against a Connecticut company, claiming that it illegally fired an employee for comments she made on Facebook. The complaint also alleges that the employer maintained an overly broad blogging and internet posting policy.

Senate Finance Committee’s Proposals to Expand Health Care, Reduce Costs, and Pay for It All

Previously, we discussed three potential option papers the Senate Finance Committee released in April and May which outline major health care reform issues and approaches to resolving them. This week, we will look at the specifics of each of the three papers and what they mean for employers. Since the papers were released, the Congressional […]

Health Care Reform: Individual Mandate Penalties Further Refined

In proposed rules issued Jan. 27, the IRS clarifies how participants in employer-sponsored plans are to count employer contributions to HRAs and wellness program incentives when calculating their contributions to employer-sponsored coverage. In those rules, the IRS also allows temporary exceptions to health care reform’s definition of minimum essential coverage for government-sponsored limited-benefit plans, giving […]