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Boeing May Have Discriminated in RIF Process, Ninth Circuit Rules

According to the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), managers at the Washington-state based Boeing Corporation discriminated against female employees when they administered the company’s Reduction in Force (RIF) evaluations, used to determine which employees would be laid off. One Boeing employee, Antonia Castron, asked to be transferred away from a manager who often stated […]

Mental Health Parity Changes Take Effect January 1, 2010

It’s time for employers to examine their health benefits to see if they’re in compliance with the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Act of 2008, which takes effect on January 1, 2010. The law applies to most employers with more than 50 employees. It requires covered employers that offer a health insurance plan with mental […]

Subordinate Dating: ‘Most Dangerous Workplace Activity’

What about supervisors asking subordinates for dates? “It’s not recommended, in fact, it’s the most dangerous action in the workplace,” says Attorney Jonathan Segal. Segal’s remarks came as part of his “Harassment Quiz” at SHRM’s recent Annual Convention and Exposition in New Orleans. Segal is a partner in the Philadelphia office of law firm Duane […]

Arbitrator, Saskatchewan Court Give Jerk Employee a Perk, Not Work

What should an arbitrator do when a fired employee is too bad to be reinstated, but dismissal was for one reason or another unjustified? Surprisingly, for Canadian arbitrators the answer seems increasingly to be: “Give ‘em a big payout.” They are increasingly awarding these unsalvageable employees bigger awards than good employees would get in a […]

‘Red Flags’ Rule—What Are Your Obligations?

Yesterday’s Advisor introduced the Red Flags Rules for preventing identity theft. Today, we learn more about red flags, and we introduce an up-coming webinar on how to protect your customers’ and employees’ identities. Here are more typical red flags for identity theft. (Go here for the first three types of flags) 4. Suspicious Account Activity […]

Hot List: BusinessWeek’s Best Seller List

BusinessWeek magazine ranks the 10 best selling hardcover and paperback business books for September 2009 and gives a short summary. 1. Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell. As you’d expect with Gladwell, there are lots of surprises in his explanation of why some people succeed fantastically. Pluck and smarts get less play here […]

ID Theft—Keeping Your Workers’ and Customers’ Trust

As many as 9 million Americans have their identities stolen each year. Are some of those thefts going to happen because your company was lax at identifying red flags? The “Red Flags Rule,” which recently went into effect, requires many businesses and organizations to implement a written Identity Theft Prevention Program. Although the Federal Trade […]

Employer May Be Liable for Actions Taken Against Alcoholic Employee

by Dara Wanzer Complicated legal and moral issues may occur when an employee who has taken medical leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) for alcohol-related health issues returns to employment. The Tenth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals recently considered some of those issues and found that under certain circumstances, alcoholism can be […]