Practical HR Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
Verizon employee Denise Harris was granted family and medical leave for a bad back. Under the union contract covering Harris’ employment, Verizon paid Harris sick pay benefits during the first part of her leave, but cut off her benefits when she didn’t provide a physician’s report confirming she couldn’t work. Harris sued, claiming the failure […]
The California Supreme Court has handed down a ruling that could save employers and their insurers hundreds of millions of dollars in workers’ compensation benefits.
The San Francisco Board of Supervisors has unanimously approved a plan to raise the minimum wage to $9 an hour for about 21,000 workers employed by private employers with city contracts and non-profit agencies that provide the city with social services. The proposal, which was supported by San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown, includes a hike […]
I was recently hired as the director of our organization. This organization has never set pay ranges or pay scales for our employees, and we are currently paying some employees well above market rates. The Board of Directors would like to set a new pay scale for all employees, which will result in varying pay […]
What kind of employee do you think your employers planned on getting when they hired you? Someone who appreciates: The company’s need to make a profit and who feels a responsibility to help in every way possible? The need for keeping production up and costs down in order to compete successfully in the market? The […]
In yesterday’s Advisor, we looked at 8 factors that promote individual “happiness” at work. Today we’ll see how that plays out in a team setting, courtesy of BLR’s HR Department of One. Managing teams is different from managing individual contributors. Although there is clearly overlap in the “happiness factors,” there is also a clearly a different […]
The federal Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal has reconsidered two opinions it issued last year. In one case, the court had ruled that the anti-retaliation provisions of the federal wage and hour laws don’t protect workers who are fired for griping about overtime violations directly to their employers rather than to the government. The court […]
A California Court of Appeal has upheld a decision to deny disability retirement benefits to a San Diego city utility worker. Before he started working for the city, Charles Alesi injured his knee several times while jet-skiing and in a beach football game. He then reinjured the knee twice at work and once more while […]
Approximately one-third of employers report that their organizations supplement wages and salaries with cash incentives in the form of individual or team awards, spot bonuses, and similar payments, according to a recent survey of Cash Compensation practices conducted by BLR. Long term incentive bonuses were most frequently reported to be paid to employees at the […]
In California, employers must provide meal periods to employees at certain intervals. But must employers ensure that employees actually take their meal periods, or is it sufficient to offer the meal break time and leave it up to the employee to decide whether to take it? Unfortunately, there hasn’t been much guidance on these questions […]