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Go Ahead! Take Your Vacation!

Survey results state that Americans are given less vacation time by their employers than any of the other countries surveyed. Even so, a significant number of employees in the U.S. don’t take all of their vacation time. Thirty-one percent of all employed U.S. adults expect not to use all of their allotted vacation days. Some […]

Workplace Bias: EEOC Spotlights Work/Family Balance in New Guidance

Responding to the emerging issue of “family responsibility discrimination,” the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has published new guidance on how federal equal employment laws apply to employees who must balance work and family. The new guidance, “Unlawful Disparate Treatment of Workers with Caregiving Responsibilities,” offers examples under which discrimination against a working parent […]

How Can I Avoid Suits Related to Hiring Practices?

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 […]

Now Is the Time for HR to Become a Business Leader

By Seth Kahan HR’s responsibility to recruit and develop the right team of leaders is critical to business success—shirk that responsibility at your peril, says consultant Seth Kahan, author of Getting Change Right: How Leaders Transform Organizations from the Inside Out. This article is an excerpt of Kahan’s coming book, Getting Innovation Right, due out […]

News Notes: Employer Never ‘Paid’ Employee Whose Paycheck Was Illegally Intercepted

  Felix C. Villafuerte complained to the Labor Commissioner that Pasadena-based Inter-Con Security Systems Inc. never paid him his final wages when he quit. Inter-Con claimed it had mailed a final paycheck to Villafuerte but that an unknown person had illegally intercepted and cashed it by forging Villafuerte’s signature. A California Court of Appeal now […]

Senate Rejects Boost in Federal Minimum Wage

Measures to raise the federal minimum wage to $6.25 per hour, up from the current $5.15 per hour, failed in the Senate last week. One measure, introduced by Senator Edward Kennedy (D-Mass) as an amendment to a spending bill, was rejected in a 51-47 vote, and a similar GOP-introduced bill went down in a 57-42 […]

OCR to Take Closer Look at Smaller HIPAA Breaches

Most Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) enforcement has focused on the larger breaches of protected health information (PHI). But the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has not forgotten those incidents that fall below the “major” threshold of 500 individuals.

Employment Law Tip: Watch Out for Weingarten Rights

The National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) allows employees, both union and non-union, to engage in “concerted activities for the purpose of mutual aid or protection.” This includes an employee’s right to have a union representative present at an investigatory meeting that the employee reasonably believes could result in discipline.

Obama’s First Move–Signing Equal Pay Bills?

New hurdles in defending against pay-bias lawsuits may be coming soon to a workplace near you. The Democratic-led U.S. House of Representatives has overwhelmingly passed two pay discrimination bills—the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act (H.R. 11) and the Paycheck Fairness Act (H.R. 12). Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY) is expected to introduce companion legislation in the […]