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Employers Ready for New FMLA Rules?

This content was originally published in April 2009. For the latest FMLA regulation changes, visit our FMLA article archives or try our practical FMLA compliance guide. According to a 2009 poll on BLR’s websites, Compensation.BLR.com and HR.BLR.com, 74% of employers said that their organization was ready to comply with the new Family and Medical Leave […]

Tool of the Week: 21-Point Safe Terminations Checklist

Terminating an employee is one of the most unpleasant tasks an employer faces. And the fact that you also need to keep track of a complicated set of legal concerns only adds to the stress. Most employers are acutely aware that if you make a mistake, you could be facing an expensive employee lawsuit.

Health and Safety: OSHA Updates Avian Flu Guidance

The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration has unveiled new safety and health guidance for protecting workers from avian flu. The new document, which updates avian flu guidance by OSHA in 2004, alerts employees and employers about the hazards of occupational exposure to avian influenza from infected birds and provides practical recommendations on ways to […]

News Flash: IWC Recommends $1 Minimum-Wage Hike

The Industrial Welfare Commission has proposed boosting the state minimum wage to $6.75 an hour by 2002. At its August 17 meeting, the IWC approved a plan for a 50-cent raise on January 1, 2001, and another 50-cent jump on January 1, 2002. The IWC will hold a series of hearings in coming weeks to […]

News Notes: Employers Boosting Work/Life Benefits, Study Finds

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 […]

Were Employees Required to Sign Tax Refunds Over to Employer?

An employee has filed a class action lawsuit in a San Francisco federal court claiming that his employer required foreign employees to sign over their federal and state tax refund checks to the company. The lawsuit was filed by Gopi Vedachalam, a citizen of India, against Tata American International Corp., which is a U.S. subsidiary […]

Immigration: H-1B Petition Cap Quickly Reached

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 […]

Wage and Hour: California Supreme Court Limits Use of Class Action Waivers

Although employers have received some welcome rulings from the California Supreme Court over the past few weeks, a new decision from the high court squelches a tool some employers had used to prevent class action lawsuits in the wage and hour context. In particular, the court ruled that class arbitration waivers in employment arbitration agreements […]