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News Notes: FMLA Leave Did Not Affect Employee’s Exempt Status

Doris Rowe, an exempt supervisor at Laidlaw Transit Inc., was restricted to part-time work after suffering an on-the-job injury. Laidlaw paid her by the hour while she was on the reduced schedule and resumed paying her salary when she returned to work full time. Rowe sued Laidlaw for back overtime, arguing that by paying her […]

News Notes: Employees Win Big Damages for Meal Period Violations

If employees are free to do what they wish during a lunch or other meal break, the general rule is you don’t have to pay them for that time. But what if they’re required to remain on company premises? In two recent cases, employees who weren’t permitted to leave during meal periods have won big […]

Are College Alums Displacing High School Grads in the Workforce?

One-third of hiring managers and HR professionals said they are hiring more employees with college degrees for positions that were historically held by high school graduates, according to a recent CareerBuilder® survey. This hiring trend varies across industries: Financial Services—53 percent Healthcare—40 percent Manufacturing—38 percent Transportation & Utilities—37 percent Information Technology—33 percent Professional & Business […]

News Notes: UPS Settles With Deaf Workers For Millions

United Parcel Service will pay $9.9 million to settle a lawsuit filed in a San Francisco federal court charging that it violated state and federal disability bias laws by discriminating against deaf employees and applicants. The suit charged that deaf workers weren’t given accommodations, such as interpreters for important workplace meetings, and were denied promotions. […]

So-Cal Construction Firms Busted on Labor Violations

In recent sweeps, the California Division of Labor Standards Enforcement (DLSE) uncovered wage and hour and other violations at construction firms in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, and San Diego counties. The DLSE issued 54 citations totaling more than $279,500 for failure to provide itemized wage statements, obtain a California’s contractor’s license, and provide […]

What’s New in Incentive Compensation? Let’s Find Out

By BLR Founder and CEO Bob Brady For years, BLR has surveyed HR and benefits professionals to find trends in benefits. We appreciate your participation in our monthly series of brief, targeted benefits surveys. Today’s survey topic: Incentive Compensation. (We’ll publish the results in a future issue.) Incentive comp is certainly on the front burner […]

News Notes: No Comp Benefits for New Employee’s Psychiatric Injury

  A California appeal court has ruled an employee couldn’t recover workers’ comp benefits for psychiatric injury stemming from a work-related physical injury because the individual hadn’t worked for the employer for at least six months when initially injured. The court based its decision on a provision of the workers’ comp law that bars benefits […]

News Notes: Simplified Pension Plan Administration Rules In Effect

The U.S. Department of Labor has eased the paperwork burden for administering employee pension plans. Under new regulations that recently went into effect, plan administrators no longer have to automatically file summary plan descriptions or summary material modifications with the department. However, you must still provide summary plan documents to employees.

Hiring Summer Interns And Volunteers: It’s More Complicated Than Most Employers Think; How To Keep From Getting Burned

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 […]