Archives

How to Create a Disability-Friendly Workplace

In today’s world, simply complying with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) isn’t enough for many employers. They want to be more proactive in creating a disability-friendly workplace. Today, BLR’s experts offer some tips. First of all, the following indicators show that an organization is willing to “walk the talk” of a disability-friendly workplace: The […]

OSHA Fines MillerCoors for Employee Electrocution

by Jim Goh Behind efforts to assist organized labor and improve the balance between work and family, increasing workplace safety is a top priority for President Barack Obama and the 111th Congress. Both the President and congressional leaders have vowed more funding for the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) […]

DOL to Abolish Employment Standards Administration

Like most federal agencies, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) is a large bureaucracy, housing many levels of subagencies and layers of employees with a host of titles that are unintelligible to outsiders. The DOL has recently decided to do a little streamlining by abolishing the umbrella agency that oversees four of its major units. […]

Editor of Texas Employment Law Letter Reflects on Letterman Saga

In the wake of the recent scandal involving late-night host David Letterman, Mike Maslanka, editor of Texas Employment Law Letter, provides advice on how to deal with the relationship dynamics between the top brass and their subordinates in his latest podcast. A top boss must never become romantically involved with a subordinate, says Maslanka. In […]

Timekeeping and Payroll: The 9-to-5 Trap

Most employees today don’t punch a time clock; they generally work a set schedule, such as 9 am to 5 pm. Because these employees work a regular schedule, many employers don’t bother to track their time (or require the employees to track their time). This means that each paycheck reflects pay for the time scheduled […]

New Survey Says Pay Violations Rampant; DOL Stepping Up Inspections

In response to the published results of a recent survey of low-wage workers in Los Angeles, New York and Chicago, U.S. Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis announced that the Department of Labor (DOL) will be putting at least 250 more wage and hour inspectors on the ground to audit employer compensation practices. In other words, […]

Penny-wise and Pound Foolish?

I read the other day where Kenneth Feinberg, the Obama administration’s pay czar, is planning on limiting the compensation of top employees at firms receiving large amounts of government aid. Now the initial reaction of the masses might be that this is an excellent decision. In fact, my guess is that is exactly how the […]

Getting a Little (Maid of the) Misty

Litigation Value: $0 for Dunder-Mifflin (consider the bullets dodged for now), but I’d love to be the plaintiffs’ lawyer representing those poor souls who got ice from the machine in which Kevin stuck his formerly Kleenex-boxed feet I don’t normally cry at weddings, but I could see making an exception for the long-anticipated nuptials of […]

Come Explore the ‘New’ BLR

By BLR Founder and CEO Bob Brady It’s with (slightly) mixed emotions that I announce that Business & Legal Reports, the company I founded 32 years ago, has changed its name to Business & Legal Resources and launched a new corporate website at www.BLR.com. You may be wondering—why the change? The switch from “Reports” to […]

New Legislation Would Make Proving Age Discrimination Easier

Democrats introduced a new bill yesterday that would make it easier for employees to win age discrimination lawsuits under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA). Three congressional committee chairmen — Representative George Miller (D-California), Senator Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), and Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont) — introduced the Protecting Older Workers Against Discrimination Act, a bill […]