Practical HR Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
By HRDA Editor Stephen D. Bruce, PHR Just My E-Pinion A recent question to the BLR® HR Forum about amnesty for illegal aliens generated an interesting set of responses, all well-reasoned, although not all agreeing. The question was: Just wondering what my HR colleagues think of granting mass amnesty to illegal aliens currently residing in […]
A new study by Mellon Financial Corp. reveals that 81 percent of employers offer employee assistance programs, up from 70 percent in 1996, and 54 percent provide family sick days, up from 42 percent. Although only 6 percent of employers offered domestic partner benefits seven years ago, 35 percent of employers do now. The study […]
The California Franchise Tax Board has announced state tax benefits for businesses and employees who aid Hurricane Katrina relief efforts by donating the cash value of employee leave time. The program–which mirrors a similar federal IRS program announced last week–allows workers to donate unused sick, vacation, or other personal leave time in exchange for the […]
The state Industrial Welfare Commission has approved a 50-cent increase in the minimum wage to $6.25 per hour, effective Jan. 1, 2001. Another 50-cent increase will take effect Jan. 1, 2002, boosting the hourly minimum to $6.75. The change will also raise the minimum monthly salary that must be earned to qualify as exempt employees. […]
In a recent meeting with President Vicente Fox of Mexico, a delegation of American senators led by Senator Phil Gramm (R-Texas) pledged to initiate a new guest worker program that would bring Mexican workers into the U.S. and effectively grant amnesty to as many as 7 million Mexicans currently working here illegally. According to Gramm, […]
One of the more controversial laws enacted in California last year was S.B. 2, the Health Insurance Act of 2003. The law requires many California businesses to either provide health coverage to part- and full-time employees or pay a fee into a state health coverage fund. The law is scheduled to be phased in beginning […]
Unless you have spent this week on another planet, you have heard that the U.S. Supreme Court is hearing three days of arguments on the health care form law passed by Congress in 2010. The Court is expected to hand down a decision by the end of June. On Tuesday, day two of the hearings, […]
A new decision from a California Court of Appeals underscores how erroneously classifying workers as independent contractors rather than employees can have serious tax consequences. The case involved a group of courier companies—collectively called Sonic—that classified delivery drivers as independent contractors and reported their pay on 1099 forms. The California Employment Development Department, however, decided […]
States will get one more month, until Dec. 14, to notify federal regulators whether they will set up and run their own health insurance exchanges, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services told two governors in a letter dated Nov. 15. Without the extension, the deadline for signaling intent would have been Friday, Nov. […]