Practical HR Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
On July 4, 2025, President Donald Trump signed into law the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. One of its provisions has been dubbed “no taxes on tips” and provides a tax deduction of up to $25,000 for tips received by employees. The provision is retroactive to January 1, 2025, so certain payroll and reporting changes […]
“Why does it feel like somebody’s watching me?” Remember the old song with Michael Jackson singing this lament in the chorus? Employees in our current technological age may share this sentiment. More and more employers are conducting various modes of surveillance in the workplace, including video cameras and cybersecurity that tracks email and website traffic. […]
Employee handbooks are meant to be a compliance cornerstone. Yet new research from Brightmine shows many organizations may be falling behind in keeping them current. Fewer than half (48%) of HR professionals surveyed feel very confident that their organization’s handbook accurately reflects all current employment law requirements that are applicable to their company. A handbook […]
There have been changes to the requirement for federal contractors to have affirmative action plans (AAPs) since the Trump administration came into office. In Executive Order (EO) 14173 “Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity,” issued on January 21, 2025, the administration rescinded EO 11246 and required the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) to “immediately […]
The Supreme Court’s recent ruling in Trump v. CASA that banned federal district court judges from issuing nationwide injunctions was met with mixed feelings among employer groups. Some of the most well-known injunctions were sought by employers—against the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) vaccine mandate, federal contractors’ minimum wage, certain expansive pregnancy regulations, and […]
The U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals (whose rulings apply to all Michigan employers) recently decided a case involving an employer that withdrew from an underfunded, multiemployer pension plan. According to the court, the actuary didn’t use the best estimate when determining the employer’s share of the unfunded liability under the Employee Retirement Income Security […]
All day long you give me the runaround When you say something here, You mean something there You give me the runaround Same thing yesterday, Same thing the day before from “Runaround” by Tulsa songwriter J. J. Cale Under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), an employer should grant accommodations to employees with a disability, […]
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has filed only 16 lawsuits so far in 2025, far below the 36 filed at this time last year. Of the 16 lawsuits, six are sexual harassment, three are religious discrimination, three are disability discrimination, two pregnancy discrimination, and one each are age discrimination and national origin discrimination. At […]
The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) continues to baffle lawyers and HR professionals. But sometimes a riddle brings welcome news, as we see in a recent decision from the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals (the federal court of appeals covering Texas). Read on. Where’s the Beef? Virginia Adams worked for Columbia/HCA Hospital. She […]
HR professionals often implement call monitoring to support employee development, improve customer service, and ensure policy compliance. These are valid goals. But without a legal framework backing these efforts, the risk of unintentionally violating employee rights is high. Even when intentions are good, execution still matters. Monitoring without a clear policy—or in ignorance of state […]