Practical HR Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
by Brian Smeenk, formerly with McCarthy Tetrault A new statutory holiday, Family Day, has been declared in the province of Ontario. It will be celebrated on February 18. In subsequent years, it will fall on the third Monday of each February. Employers should begin considering how their organization will respond. In particular, employers should begin […]
On July 24, 2007, the federal minimum wage will rise to $5.85 per hour, with further increases in the next two years that will take the rate to $7.25 per hour.
It’s frequent in companies of all sizes—but especially for privately held companies—for owners or managers to hire friends and family. In previous posts, we discussed some reasons for this and also talked about some of the dangers of nepotism in the workplace.
The IRS and the Department of Treasury is still seeking public input on future standards to determine whether a retirement plan is a governmental plan under Code Section 414(d). According to the IRS, more guidance is needed for Section 414(d), as the statutory rules for governmental plans differ from those for nongovernmental plans. Further, changes […]
By Steve Bruce, Editor, HR Daily Advisor Just My E-Pinion Our headline in a recent issue of HR Daily Advisor—"He’s back … in the lobby … with a gun"—was calculated to attract attention; that’s what headlines do. But not the kind of attention we attracted. A number of readers were upset by the headline and […]
By BLR Founder and CEO Bob Brady These days health care is all abuzz with the pending healthcare reform bill in the Senate. Meanwhile, companies are getting walloped by higher than expected costs just when they can least afford it. And you, as an HR professional, are on the front lines. Employers are understandably concerned […]
The debate over a national ergonomics standard continues. The Bush administration is currently reviewing the new ergonomics rules, and at least 31 lawsuits have been filed challenging them. Plus, the question of whether there is scientific support for the standard is still open. A long-awaited study by the National Academy of Sciences concluded that some […]
The Bush administration has thrown out a Clinton-era rule governing contractor responsibility. The rule had banned the award of federal government contracts to businesses that had criminal or civil violations of federal labor and employment, safety, environmental, tax, antitrust or consumer protection laws in the preceding three years. Enforcement of the rule—which the business community […]
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 […]
The administration doesn’t mind taking the occasional detour on its route to health reform implementation, it seems, perhaps because until the Supreme Court decides on the constitutionality of its “individual mandate” (oral arguments will be March 27), the fate of the law’s employer provisions has to be considered uncertain. Backpedaling also may be occurring with […]