Practical HR Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
An important component of health reform implementation is the imposition of an “essential benefits” package (of health goods and services that insurers of groups and individuals must cover). Under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), that benefit package will be de rigueur (1) for policies sold on exchanges and (2) insurers of small […]
When an employee recently resigned from our company, giving two weeks’ notice, his manager told him to pack up and leave immediately and he wouldn’t be paid beyond that day. Effectively, he fired the employee as of that day. This didn’t sit right with me, but is it illegal?
In a dispute over an employer’s workers’ comp return-to-work policy, the U.S. Supreme Court has refused to overturn a $2.5 million award to an employee of Dillard Department Stores in Nevada. Deloris Beckwith, a 64-year-old sales manager, hurt her back on the job and filed a workers’ comp claim. Beckwith charged Dillard tried to make […]
Under California wage and hour law, computer software professionals can qualify for overtime exemption if they meet certain duties requirements and are paid a specified hourly rate, set annually based on inflation rates by the state Department of Industrial Relations. On Jan. 1, 2007, the minimum hourly rate for exempt computer software professionals will be […]
Workplace injuries and illnesses in California continue to decline, falling from 6.7 injuries for every 100 workers in 1998 to an all-time low of 6.3 per 100 workers in 1999, according to figures just released by the state Department of Industrial Relations. Of the nonfatal illnesses reported, 56% were disorders associated with repetitive stress. The […]
U.S. Senator Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) and Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) have introduced the Healthy Families Act, legislation that, if passed, would guarantee seven paid sick days per year to employees working at least 30 hours a week at companies with 15 or more workers. The sick days could be used for the employee’s own medical […]
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 […]
In April 2003, comprehensive new privacy rules under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act went into effect for large group health plans. Now, on April 14, 2004, the rules will also apply to small group health plans—which includes insured plans with total annual premiums of less than $5 million or self-insured plans with total […]