Practical HR Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
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 […]
A federal court in Delaware has ruled that Hanover Foodsviolated federal law by refusing to offer COBRA benefits to a worker who was fired for leaving onion powder out of a batch of ravioli. The company claimed that Heather Lloynd tried to sabotage the ravioli because she was assigned to work with an employee she […]
Raul Quintero charged he didn’t get a fair hearing before the Santa Ana Personnel Board when he unsuccessfully challenged his discharge from his job with the city of Santa Ana. Quintero claimed the attorney representing the city at the hearing had also acted as the personnel board’s counsel, which raised the specter that the […]
Contracts that bar employees from working for competitors after they leave your company are unenforceable under California law in most cases. And now such provisions pose an even bigger problem for employers. That’s because a Court of Appeal has recently ruled that you can be sued for insisting employees sign a noncompete agreement as a […]
According to a new survey from human resource consulting firm Hewitt Associates, most companies don’t offer holiday bonuses. Out of 432 employers surveyed, 67% won’t offer any type of bonus for the holidays this year–this includes cash, food or other types of gifts. Since 1999, the percentage of employers not offering bonuses has hovered between […]
Since the late 1980s, employers conducting large layoffs have had to ensure compliance with the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act. While doing the calculus to determine whether there are WARN notice obligations may be straightforward, typically, complications can arise when the employer is one of several entities in a group of related companies. […]
The California Supreme Court has ruled that a Catholic charity doesn’t qualify as a “religious employer” and therefore must comply with the Women’s Contraception Equity Act (WCEA) by offering prescription contraception coverage in its employee health plan if it offers prescription drug coverage—even if the organization opposes contraceptives on religious grounds. This ruling could impact […]
Ernie Ruiz, a driver for Sysco Food Services of San Diego, was accused by a co-worker of brandishing a knife in an argument over a jacket. Ruiz was sent home, Sysco employees called police, and the next day, Ruiz—who denied the accusations—was terminated for violent and threatening conduct. He sued for defamation arising out […]
Summer vacations have come and gone, and now it’s back to the grindstone and staring at the computer screen for hours on end. If your employees spend a good portion of their work day in front of a computer, it’s wise to take steps to help prevent computer-related eyestrain. Here are four suggestions:
The outcry against a new poster rule from the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has resulted in the postponement of the rule’s implementation by more than two months. The NLRB issued a final rule in August requiring employers to notify employees of their rights under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). The original deadline to […]