Practical HR Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
A new law—S.B. 486—that’s aimed at increasing worker and customer safety in wholesale or retail warehouse establishments requires that if such businesses store merchandise on shelves higher than 12 feet above the sales floor, they must secure it from falling. Security methods could include safety rails, netting, security cables, shrink-wrapping pallets or tying items together. […]
Under A.B. 1825, which took effect on Jan. 1, 2006, employers with 50 or more employees must provide sexual harassment prevention training every two years to supervisory employees. It has been unclear, however, whether the law covers employees and supervisors located outside California.
Are there any organizations (private or public) that can help us with our emergency preparedness other than FEMA?
For the first time in over 25 years, the U.S. Department of Labor has issued proposed rules overhauling the system for determining which employees are exempt from overtime under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act. The proposed rules change the types of job duties workers must perform to qualify for exemption from overtime as well […]
The new law provides a short-term replacement for the current 30-year Treasury bond rate, which is currently used as the benchmark rate for pension funding liabilities. Some employers, unions, and workers expressed concerns about using the Treasury bond rate because it artificially inflates a plan’s funding liabilities. Congress enacted a temporary fix in March 2002 […]
A new absenteeism survey by Commerce Clearing House Inc. indicates that absenteeism costs climbed to an all-time high in 2002—even though absenteeism itself dropped slightly. Employers spent an annual average of $789 per employee for unscheduled days off, up from $755 in 2001. While workers listed illness as the most common reason for calling in […]
Some California workers’ comp insurers have been placed on a financial watch list by the California Department of Insurance because rating agencies have raised questions about the insurers’ financial stability. According to the California Workers’ Compensation Institute, for each $1 in premiums taken in during 1999, workers’ comp insurers paid out about $1.51 for claims […]
I recently mentioned that we’d be doing an emergency management webinar boot camp on May 23.
New health reform rules finalize policies for non-profit organizations that object on religious or moral grounds to gain an exemption from having to “contract, arrange, pay or refer for” contraceptive coverage. The final rules reflect public feedback received in response to Feb. 6, 2013 proposed rules (78 Fed. Reg. 8456). In the proposed rule, the […]
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has ruled 3-2 that an employer didn’t violate federal labor relations law by having a policy that barred employees from using the company’s email system for union activities and other non-job-related solicitations. Employers have basic property rights to regulate and restrict the use of company property, including an email […]