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What Maine Election Results Mean for Employers

By Daniel C. Stockford While voters handily reelected both of Maine’s Democratic representatives to the U.S. House of Representatives, a sea change occurred at the state level as the governorship and the legislature apparently have switched from Democratic to Republican control. In a surprisingly close governor’s race, Republican Paul LePage appears to have narrowly held […]

Discrimination: Massive Wal-Mart Class Action OK’d by Ninth Circuit

Last year, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with a lower court’s decision to certify a sex discrimination class action lawsuit filed against Wal-Mart on behalf of up to 2 million current and former female employees. Last month, the Ninth Circuit has now reaffirmed its ruling, thus putting the suit one step closer to […]

News Notes: Help On New Health Insurance Laws Available

Several federal laws affecting employee health benefits were added last year, including the Health Insurance Portability Act, the Mental Health Parity Act and the Newborns’ and Mothers’ Health Protection Act. To help clear the confusion about these complex regulations, the U.S. Department of Labor has issued a booklet that answers some of the most common […]

Latest Data Shows Rise in 401(k) Assets; Equities Still Dominate

The average 401(k) account balance at the end of 2012 was 8.4 percent higher than the year before, but increased assets weren’t typical for all defined contribution plan participants studied, according to a December 2013 brief by the Employee Benefit Research Institute. While equity investments through stock mutual funds comprised the bulk of 401(k) assets […]

News Notes: Sacramento Lawmakers Introduce Harassment Bill

A new bill introduced in the state Legislature would expand the antiharassment provisions of the California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) to require employers to protect workers from harassment by clients and customers. A.B. 76 is a response to a recent court ruling that employers aren’t liable under the FEHA for harassment by clients […]

Employment Law Tip: Leave for Victims of Domestic Violence or Sexual Assault

In California, an employer with 25 or more employees is prohibited from discharging or in any way discriminating or retaliating against an employee who is a victim of domestic violence or sexual assault because that person takes time off from work for any of these reasons: to seek medical attention for injuries caused by the […]