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The U.S. Labor Department’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (formerly the Pension and Welfare Benefits Administration) has finalized rules for implementing a new federal law requiring 401(k) plans to give workers 30-day advance notice of blackout periods during which they can’t make transactions. The rules took effect on January 26, 2003.
California overtime pay rules don’t apply to unionized employees if the union contract sets premium overtime rates as well as a regular hourly rate that’s at least 30% over the minimum wage. Examining an older version of this exemption, a California Court of Appeal explained that it permits an employer and union to negotiate how […]
The U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal has upheld the City of Berkeley’s living wage law in the face of a challenge to its constitutionality.1Berkeley’s law, enacted in 2000, requires certain city contractors and lessees to pay workers a minimum hourly wage a few dollars higher than state and federal minimums, plus health benefits. […]
The U.S. Supreme Court will decide whether age-neutral policies violate the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) if they adversely impact older workers. The federal appeal courts are split as to whether “disparate impact” claims—which allege that a neutral policy or practice had an adverse, although unintentional, impact on a protected group—are permitted under the […]
The Workers’ Comp Insurance Rating Bureau has just recommended that California insurers raise their workers’ comp premiums by 12 percent next year. Although insurers remain free to compete and determine how much to charge for insurance, many carriers rely on the bureau’s cost-of-claims data to determine premium increases.
Among the employment-related bills recently signed by the governor is one requiring that employers with 50 or more employees conduct sexual harassment training for supervisors every two years. A.B. 1825 goes into effect Jan. 1, 2006, and now is the time to begin preparing.
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has approved a rule that would allow employers to reduce or cut retiree health benefits once a retiree becomes eligible for Medicare or a comparable state-sponsored health benefit—without violating the Age Discrimination in Employment Act. According to the U.S. General Accounting Office, 10 million retired employees age 55 and over […]
Employer monitoring of employee Internet access is a hot issue. Federal Ninth Circuit judges recently jumped into the fray by shutting off surveillance software that monitored court employees’ Internet use, stating that such monitoring without prior notice to employees could be illegal. Now the body that governs the federal court system is requiring federal courts […]
By Susan Schoenfeld, JD In technology, innovation is the key to economic survival. So it is not surprising that, recently, two tech industry giants announced innovation in paid leave benefits for their employees as a means of attracting and retaining top talent.