Practical HR Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
A recent verdict provides a good reminder ofwhy it’s important to listen to and follow up on employee complaints. A juryawarded maintenance technician Bob Haist $500,000 on his clam that his managerat Chula Vista–based Goodrich Aerostructures slandered him by accusing him infront of his co-workers of stealing from the company. Haist’s co-workers alsoallegedly watched managers […]
Since 1992, according to the U.S. Bureau ofLabor Statistics, the number of lost workdays because of work-related injuriesand illnesses has steadily declined. The decrease from 2000 to 2001 was 7.6percent. And strains and sprains, which generally account forabout four out of 10 injuries involving lost workdays, declined by 34.5 percentfrom 1992 to 2001.
The California Supreme Court has decided that its landmark ruling in 2000 that required mandatory arbitration agreements to contain certain fairness protections for employees isn’t just limited to discrimination and harassment claims. We’ll explain the court’s new opinion.
Over the last few years, the U.S. Supreme Court has issued several rulings narrowing the definition of what constitutes a disability under the federal Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Now, the California Supreme Court has ruled that California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) affords workers broader protections than the ADA.
Federal lawmakers are currently debating a variety of bills that could affect the workplace. Here’s a rundown of what’s on the table.
Many employers have discovered that successful telework arrangements can provide high levels of flexibility and employee satisfaction. And, as a new fact sheet from the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission points out, you may be required to consider telework as a reasonable accommodation for disabled employees. Modifying Telework Programs The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) […]
An employee discovers her boss is having a sexual relationship with a co-worker. Then, when the co-worker gets favorable treatment, including questionable promotions, the employee comes after you, charging that the boss’s favoritism amounted to sex discrimination and created a hostile work environment. Open-and-shut case for the employee? Maybe not, according to a new decision.
Arnulfo Gradilla worked as a sheet metal assembler at Riverside County-based Ruskin Manufacturing. When his father-in-law died, he received permission to take two or three days off work to accompany his invalid wife to the funeral in Mexico. Gradilla’s wife had a serious heart condition that was exacerbated by stress.
A single offensive comment by a co-worker typically isn’t enough to leave you paying out a costly judgment for a hostile work environment suit. But as a recent case demonstrates, when a supervisor who has been abusive makes the remark, the result may be different.
Minimed Inc., based in Northridge, hired a pest control company to spray pesticide overnight to eliminate fleas at the office. When clerical employee Irma Hernandez arrived at work the next morning, she noticed a Raid-like smell—and within a few hours she had a headache, nausea, and tightness in her chest. Hernandez told her supervisors she […]