Practical HR Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
In early January, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to raise the federal minimum wage from $5.15 per hour to $7.25 per hour over a period of 26 months. The legislation did not include tax breaks to offset the impact on employers. Now, however, the measure has failed to win enough votes in the Senate, […]
A California appeals court has ruled that when an employee sues for hostile work environment sexual harassment, the employer can rely on evidence of the employee’s own sexual statements and conduct with the alleged harasser—whether in the workplace or not—to prove that the alleged harassment wasn’t unwelcome or abusive. The case involved a legal secretary […]
In California, meal periods of no less than 30 minutes must be provided for an employee who works at least five hours, and two 30-minute meal periods are required for work shifts of more than 10 hours. Are employers responsible for making sure employees take their meal breaks? Or can employers just offer the meal […]
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has proposed changes to the EEO-1 form, which must be filed annually by private employers with 100 or more employees and some federal contractors with 50 or more employees. The changes would increase the number of categories for reporting racial and ethnic background and split the existing “officers and managers” […]
Meal/rest break claims are down significantly, while misclassifications and overtime cases remain strong, says the 7th Annual Litigation Trends Report from international law firm Fulbright & Jaworski LLP. Fulbright surveyed senior corporate counsel on their experiences and opinions regarding litigation. The survey had 403 participants, 275 whom were from the U.S. Of the U.S. companies […]
After Nancy Duitch left her position as president of One World Networks Integrated Technologies to work at Buckhead Marketing, she entered into arbitration with One World over a series of disputes involving wages owed to her, and unfair competition claims by One World. One World also sued Buckhead Marketing for unfair competition. Buckhead Marketing then […]
Due to some ambiguity in model government language explaining the interplay of the Affordable Care Act with COBRA coverage, the Obama administration has both proposed an update to model COBRA notices and provided a new special enrollment opportunity for COBRA qualified beneficiaries (QBs) to enroll in marketplace coverage. Last year, the U.S. Department of Labor […]
Last year, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, which covers California, decided that federal antibias laws don’t prohibit employers from requiring job applicants and employees to sign mandatory arbitration agreements as a condition of employment. The case then went before a full panel of the Ninth Circuit for review—which has now handed down another strong […]
A California appeal court has ruled that a new law (AB 76) holding employers liable for harassment by nonemployees, including clients, customers, and vendors, is retroactive to lawsuits that were already pending when the measure was signed into law last year by former Gov. Davis.
Do you think exit interviews are helpful? We just had a case in which an ex-employee, during the exit interview, accused a manager of discrimination. The manager blew it off, saying, “Oh, she’s just a disgruntled employee who’s letting off steam on her way out,” and nothing came of it. I don’t know whether it’s […]