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Are You Ready To ShakeOut?

Tomorrow, October 21, millions of Californians will practice Drop, Cover, and Hold On as part of the 2010 California ShakeOut, an annual event designed to enhance earthquake emergency preparedness throughout the state. For more information, or to register, go to www.shakeout.org.

News Notes: Nonunion Workers’ Right To Bring A Co-Worker Upheld

We previously reported on a ruling by the National Labor Relations Board that extended to nonunion employees the right to bring a co-worker to a meeting that may have disciplinary consequences. Now a federal appeals court has upheld the NLRB ruling, expanding to nonunion employees a right that has been recognized for union workers since […]

News Notes: Government Says It’s Illegal To Exclude Contraceptive Coverage

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has ruled in two separate cases that it is illegal to exclude coverage for contraceptive prescriptions in an employer-provided health plan that also covers a wide variety of other preventative services, including vaccinations, preventative dental care and surgical sterilization. Prior to these rulings, the issue of whether excluding female contraceptives […]

News Notes: Mental Health Parity Rules Begin

A new federal law now in effect says that if you offer mental health benefits, they must have the same aggregate lifetime and annual limits as medical benefits. The law applies to employers with 50 or more employees. There’s an exemption for employerswho can show the parity requirements will increase their costsby more than 1%. […]

Bulletin Item: Sexual Orientation Protections

Could sexual orientation protections be required in your workplace? The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Lawrence v. Texas, which struck down a state law prohibiting sodomy, could have sweeping implications for employers. Although many protections are already available to California employees, the court’s broad language suggests that gay employees may now enjoy more protections under […]

Privacy: California Supreme Court to Review Workplace Privacy Ruling

In the December 2006 issue of the California Employer Advisor, we reported on a new ruling in which a California appeals court ruled that placing a video surveillance camera in an employees’ office, without notice, could amount to an invasion of privacy. This was true even though no actual viewing or recording of the employees […]

Amnesty for Aliens: Good for the Country (and Your Company) or Bad?

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 […]