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Data compiled by the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission indicate that sex harassment complaints received by the agency and its state counterparts have leveled off. Between 1992 and 1995, the number of complaints jumped from 10,532 per year to 15,549, and 15,836 charges were filed in 2000. The EEOC found no reasonable cause to believe […]
The controversy over the use of mandatory arbitration for employment disputes continues as federal and state courts send contradictory signals to employers. While the California Supreme Court recently OK’d the use of mandatory arbitration, the federal Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has said that for some types of claims, such as age or race bias, […]
In 2000, Sacramento lawmakers enacted SB 402, requiring counties and other local agencies to submit, under certain circumstances, to binding arbitration of economic issues that arise during negotiations with unions representing firefighters or law enforcement officers. Now the California Supreme Court has struck down the law, ruling that it interferes with state constitution provisions giving […]
The Mondrian Hotel and its Sky Bar, a hangout for a hip Hollywood clientele, agreed to pay $1.08 million to settle a suit brought by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on behalf of a group of mostly minority bellmen who claimed they were fired because they looked “too ethnic.” The workers were allegedly replaced with […]
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is seeking comments on interim final rules that revise the regulations on whistleblower complaints filed under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX). The whistleblower protection provisions of SOX were amended by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 to clarify that subsidiaries of publicly […]
Employers take note: Sept. 30, 2007, is the deadline to file the annual EEO-1 Report with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). This year, employers must use the new and revamped version of the form (Standard Form 100, rev. 1/06). The EEO-1 form must be filed annually by employers with 100 or more employees or […]
A California appeal court has ruled that for purposes of determining whether an employer is liable for an employee’s occupational disease or cumulative trauma injury, the date of injury is when the employee first suffered either temporary or permanent disability—not when medical treatment was received. The ruling is important because, with work-related disease or cumulative […]
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that by the afternoon of April 2, 2007, it had received enough H-1B work visa petitions—150,000—to meet the congressionally mandated cap for fiscal year 2008. April 2 was the first day employers could submit H-1B petitions for 2008. The H-1B visa program allows U.S. businesses to employ […]
Cal/OSHA has issued an updated fact sheet outlining changes in its respirator regulations. The rules apply to all workplace respirator use except for tuberculosis protection. The fact sheet outlines the specific elements of a comprehensive, written program for respirator use that must be implemented by employers. As spelled out in the fact sheet, such a […]
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 […]