Practical HR Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
Lawmakers and courts continued to demonstrate hostility toward noncompete and no-hire agreements in 2021. The activity underscores employers’ need to stay current on the diverse state-specific limitations governing restrictive covenants, new federal activity in the area, and ongoing case law developments.
The regional director for the Wage and Hour Division (WHD) of the Department of Labor (DOL) has recently underscored the compliance obstacle that continues to confound employers: whether to include bonuses in the “regular rate” when calculating the overtime pay rate for nonexempt employees. Nondiscretionary bonuses must be considered when determining the regular pay rate, […]
An announcement from three federal agencies that they are aligning to protect employees who try to exercise their rights in the workplace means employers need to be especially on guard against actions that may be seen as unlawful retaliation.
When President Joe Biden recently announced a six-pronged strategy to contain COVID-19’s spread, one of the most notable measures was a vaccination and/or weekly testing mandate affecting employers and employees nationwide. We still don’t know many details, but here are answers to some of the most common questions we’ve received since the mandates were announced. […]
With the recent spike in cybersecurity breaches rippling through all corners of the global business landscape, the surging interest in data protection has caused even the highest departments of state to take note and weigh in. In April 2021, the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) Employee Benefits Security Administration issued a cybersecurity guidance to help […]
Star Wars geekdom is strong in my family. I have it. My sons have it. My wife… well, she’s coming around. Like many my age, I grew up on the original Star Wars trilogy, idolizing the litany of iconic characters that include Han Solo, Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, Chewy, Darth Vader, and so many others. […]
A bill recently cleared the House that is designed to help employers form association health plans (AHPs), including plans that cross state lines. The Small Business Health Fairness Act (H.R. 1101), sponsored by Reps. Sam Johnson (R-TX) and Tim Walberg (R-MI), passed on March 22 by a vote of 236 to 175.
The landscape of employee leaves continues to grow in scope, complexity, and unpredictability. The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), and other federal statutes have been joined by state, counties, and city leave laws. At the same time, more large employers look at paid leave as an important recruitment and […]
This article series addresses some of the most confusing real world problems surrounding the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). In the last installment, we focused on substituting paid leave for FMLA leave. In this article, we’ll look at restoring an employee’s job once they return from leave.
It’s one thing to grasp individual Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) rules, but another thing entirely to apply them in the real world. This article series addresses some of the most confusing real world problems. Here we’ll focus on managing the duration of FMLA leave and limits on intermittent and reduced schedule leave.