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by Mike Maslanka The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) has been revised, and the regulations went into effect in January 2009. Time for a checkup of your company’s policies. Employers need to ask themselves the following questions: HR Guide to Employment Law: A practical compliance reference manual covering 14 topics, including hiring 1. Have […]
Last week, we discussed four employment law issues state legislatures will be grappling with in 2009 — layoff notification laws, immigration, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and it’s state equivalents, and unemployment benefits. This week, we’ll discuss four more – family and medical leave, workplace discrimination, minimum wage, and occupational safety. As with last […]
Imagine that you’re a hiring representative for your employer (in this case, a Burger King restaurant), and you’ve just discovered how to use MySpace. You decide to check the profiles of the employees who work the midnight shift. While perusing one employee’s profile, you notice a link to a video. As you click on it, […]
The Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA) is back in the news as the U.S. Supreme Court considers whether AT&T violated the Act by paying reduced pension benefits based on uncredited pregnancy leave taken before enactment of the PDA in 1978. That upcoming decision may influence whether companies have to change their policies retroactively to comply with […]
The nation’s economy and its impact on state budgets will be the overriding factor state legislatures address in 2009. Many states have already attacked their budget shortfalls by delaying projects, implementing hiring freezes, eliminating positions, and cutting programs. With predictions of continued shortfalls in 2009, state budgets will be first on the agenda for lawmakers. […]
Update from HR News: Read the latest news proposals to extend the COBRA subsidy Sandwiched in with all the infrastructure development and green energy provisions of President Barack Obama and the Democrat’s economic stimulus plan are several provisions that affect employee benefits, particularly health benefits. The stimulus bill is called the American Recovery and Reinvestment […]
by David S. Fortney At the end of his first full week in office, President Barack Obama took swift action to change employment and labor law. On January 28, he signed the Lilly Lebedetter Fair Pay Act, which relaxes the statute of limitation within which workers can file pay discrimination claims. On January 29, President […]
Here’s the scenario: As the human resources director for your company, you’re asked to sit in on the selection process for your company’s next CEO. After an intense screening process, you have three candidates to be the next leader of your company — a white male in his early 70s, a male in his 40s […]
As surely as the word “layoffs” have become part of nervous break room conversations in companies across the country, enterprising employers have sought out creative alternatives to the standard layoff regime of cost-cutting. Using tactics such as hiring freezes, offers of unpaid leave, shortened workweeks, and even pay cuts, employers may be able to avoid […]
by Gary Jiles Q: Everywhere you turn right now, you hear bad news about the economy. As a small-business owner, I’m afraid I’ll have to resort to letting go of several hourly employees. Like other employers, I’ve dealt with Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charges from employees, and I have many employees who belong to […]