Practical HR Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
Late Tuesday night, President Barack Obama signed the Temporary Extension Act of 2010 (H.R. 4691) into law. The bill, which passed the U.S. Senate by a 78-19 vote Tuesday night and passed the U.S. House of Representatives last week, extends the original federal COBRA subsidy created by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 […]
In the latest example of the trend toward challenging the use of temporary workers by government and private employers, Ventura County’s largest labor union, the Service Employees International Union, has sued the county. The union charges that the county paid hundreds of thousands of dollars in the past year to temporary workers in clerical, maintenance […]
If you’re planning to close your doors for the holidays to help trim costs, and you want exempt employees to use up their accrued vacation during this period, you may want to review whether your plans comply with state wage and hour rules regarding exempt employees. A recent opinion letter from the state Division of […]
The following is a list of the bestselling paperback business books as ranked by the New York Times on February 16. 1. Suze Orman’s 2009 Action Plan by Suze Orman. Managing your money in hard times. 2. The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference by Malcolm Gladwell. How and why certain […]
If your employees take home tips, you should be aware that a new U.S. Supreme Court decision approves the way the Internal Revenue Service figures your tax liability on those tips. And if you should want to dispute the amount owed, you’ll now need to keep more detailed records of each employee’s tips.
Employers that pay advances, allowances or reimbursements to employees for work-related entertainment expenses — including taxpayers who, in turn, get reimbursed by their clients for such expenses — have until Oct. 30 to comment on a proposed regulation IRS published Aug. 1. The proposed rule clarifies who — among the employer, its client and an […]
Having a sexual harassment policy won’t do your company any good if the procedures are never implemented. Take the case of an employee who became the victim of severe steady sexual harassment from one of her managers. When she complained about the incidents to management, they simply shrugged it off. Since he made a lot […]
Clothing retailer The Wet Seal Inc. has agreed to shell out up to $1.3 million to settle a dispute with as many as 500 California store managers who claimed they were improperly classified as exempt from overtime pay because they performed primarily nonexempt work, such as stocking and helping customers. In a separate development, The […]
Businesses aren’t the only ones stressed and anxious about these difficult economic times. Employees (and their families) are also feeling the effects—and many employees are facing very serious financial problems such as burdensome debt, lost income, bankruptcies, and foreclosures. Employees experiencing increased financial stress at home are likely to have a hard time keeping their […]