Practical HR Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
It’s no secret that wage and hour lawsuits are multiplying, and they often challenge an employer’s practices with respect to required meal and rest breaks. But even if you’ve taken steps to comply with Labor Code and Wage Order break rules, you might have forgotten to check up on breaks for one segment of your […]
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Pension and Welfare Benefits Administration (PWBA) has just released its new enforcement strategy to ensure that pension plans comply with ERISA. The main target: defined contribution programs, particularly 401(k) plans. This means you could be hit with hefty penalties for pension plan administration errors, such as delinquent employee contributions and […]
Now that summer is here, students are looking for hands-on work experience and are often willing to work as a volunteer or intern for no pay. But many employers are not up to speed on the strict state and federal guidelines regarding who is legally considered an employee entitled to be paid at least minimum […]
The Social Security Administration has agreed to pay $7.75 million to settle a lawsuit by 2,200 male African-American current and former employees who claimed they were denied promotions and pay because of their race and sex. The lawsuit charged that African-American men were kept in low-grade jobs and were more likely to be disciplined than […]
When a collective bargaining agreement expires, and the union and management haven’t negotiated a new one, an employer must maintain the status quo. This means the employer can’t impose unilateral changes on issues that are considered “mandatory subjects of bargaining,” until a new contract is negotiated or the parties have bargained to impasse. Applying this […]
In yesterday’s Advisor, attorney Allison West offered tips for avoiding defamation and fraud lawsuits. Today, her tips on recruiting, plus an introduction to a unique, web-based, turnkey employee training system. West, principal of Employment Practices Specialists in Pacifica, CA, gave her advice at SHRM’s Employment Law and Legislative Conference, held recently in Washington, DC. Here […]
On June 14, the U.S. Departments of Health and Human Services (HHS), Labor, and Treasury issued new regulations addressing grandfathered plans under health care reform and how such plans can keep their grandfathered status. Although the new health care reform legislation (the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the Health Care and Education Affordability […]
Under the wage orders, “to employ” means to “engage, suffer, or permit” someone to work for you. Sound confusing? It can be. The simplest approach is to assume that any person who does work for you that is part of your company’s business (who does some part of the work necessary to make the goods […]