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News Notes: Federal Contractor Enters Half-Million-Dollar Settlement Of Gender Bias Claims

Monrovia Nursery in Visalia, which sells plants and plant materials to federal agencies, has agreed to pay out more than $511,000 to 240 women who alleged that the company’s hiring practices discriminated against qualified female applicants. The settlement grew out of a compliance review by the Labor Department’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs.

EEOC on the March–Charges, Investigations, and Claims

Yesterday’s Advisor offered take-aways from Littler Mendelson’s recently released Annual Report on EEOC Developments—Fiscal Year 2012; today, data on charges and investigations, plus an introduction to HR Dept One. Review of Charge Activity, Backlog, and Benefits Provided On November 19, 2012, the EEOC announced the publication of the FY 2012 Performance and Accountability Report.  During […]

News Bulletin: Employment-Related Cases Before State High Court

Cases coming before justices during the 2004-2005 term that could affect your workplace include Smith v. City of Jackson, which raises the question of whether the federal Age Discrimination in Employment Act recognizes disparate impact age bias claims, as opposed to claims of intentional age bias; and Commissioner of Internal Revenue v. Banks, which questions […]

Taking An Interest Gets Better Results

Many times a supervisor faces serious obstacles (real or imagined) in the effective leadership of his or her department. Here are some of the excuses supervisors commonly given along with some solutions: Employees are people with certain specific functions to perform, but they are not machines—they’re people with feelings and emotions. People like to be […]

News Notes: Failure To Grant Part-Time Status Doesn’t Support Wrongful Termination Claim

  Charles Sinatra, a long-time assistant principal with the Chico Unified School District, sued for wrongful termination in violation of public policy when the district refused his request for transfer to a part-time administrative position, instead giving him a full-time teaching assignment. He claimed he was “forced” to quit for exercising his statutory right under […]

Planning Ahead for Health Care Reform: 2014

Employers — particularly those that sponsor self-funded plans — have important health care reform mandates to comply with in January 2014, many of which are unaffected by the Obama administration’s stay in enforcement of the pay-or-play rules. There is still time for employers to get their health care reform fixes right. The job is more […]

News Notes: Employers Continue To Be Targeted

Discrimination lawsuits doubled between 1992 and 1996, according to a new report from the U.S. Courts’ Administrative Office. And the problem is likely to get worse. In May, we reported that employers paid record amounts to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) over the last few years. Now top EEOC lawyers have promised to step […]

News Flash: Workers’ Compensation Insurers Face Mounting Losses; Employers May Be Hit With Higher Premiums

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 […]

Do Your Business Manners Stack Up?

Too Much Information Is Simply Too Much Information: Be polite, express interest in the basic elements of your co-workers’ lives, but never share too much—and never pry. Keep Your Workplace Clean and Uncluttered: Keeping things order ensures you’ll never crucial lose information or get bogged down looking for something. Prioritize: Decide what is most important […]