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News Notes: Labor Department Proposes New Rules For Foreign Workers
The federal Department of Labor has proposed extensive changes to the process for filing a Labor Condition Application (LCA) to employ a foreign worker. The agency says that the new rules would speed up application processing, but HR professionals and immigration attorneys are less optimistic, predicting that the proposal could radically limit the situations in […]
News Notes: Worker’s Naps May Indicate Need For FMLA Leave
After four years of exemplary employment, John Byrne, an Avon Products Inc. engineer, began to fall asleep on the job and was fired. It turned out he was suffering from depression. He was quickly hospitalized and recovered. Byrne charged in a lawsuit his termination violated the Family and Medical Leave Act because his abrupt change […]
Sick Leave: SF Approves Transition Period for Paid Sick Leave
We reported last week that the San Francisco Board of Supervisors was considering an ordinance that would give employers an additional transition period before San Francisco’s controversial paid sick leave law, Chapter 12W, takes full effect. The paid sick leave law was approved by voters and took effect on Feb. 5, 2007.
Are You Ready To ShakeOut?
Tomorrow, October 21, millions of Californians will practice Drop, Cover, and Hold On as part of the 2010 California ShakeOut, an annual event designed to enhance earthquake emergency preparedness throughout the state. For more information, or to register, go to www.shakeout.org.
Workers’ Compensation: Governor Signs Reform Package, Employers to Soon See Savings
Gov. Davis has signed landmark legislation to reform California’s troubled workers’ compensation system and put a lid on the upward spiral in workers’ comp costs faced by California employers. And now, after having pored over the numbers, the Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau (WCIRB) has recommended that the 12 percent pure premium rate increase scheduled […]
News Notes: Proposed Legislation On Workplace Electronic Monitoring
New legislation, SB 1841, has been introduced in Sacramento to require employers to notify employees in writing or electronically before monitoring the workplace electronically—by such means as computer, phone, wire, radio, or camera. The detailed notice would have to be issued when electronic monitoring is implemented and annually thereafter. Violations would carry a steep penalty […]
News Notes: Court Upholds San Francisco’s Retirement Benefits Calculation
A California appeals court has ruled the San Francisco Retirement Board correctly excluded amounts paid for unused vacation and sick leave whencalculating “average final compensation” to determine retirement benefits. Under the retirement plans, average final compensation only included compensation earned during the period an employee provided credited service. Under San Francisco’s system, vacation and sick […]
Biggest HR Concerns for 2011 How You Voted BLR
We recently polled our readers about the biggest HR concerns for 2011, and here’s how you responded: healthcare challenges topped the list with about 80 percent of respondents voting, followed by increasing federal investigations at 45 percent. (Respondents were asked to vote for their top 3 choices.) The survey was done in late December 2010. […]
Declining Retirement Plans: Will There Be More Fiduciaries in the Future?
Plan sponsors who watched their retirement investments get buffeted by recent recessionary storms have had few ERISA remedies against broker dealers who led them to poor-performing funds. The sole recourse under ERISA for plan members was to sue the plan sponsor who relied on the advice, rather than against the professional financial expert who gave […]