Practical HR Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
There are dozens of details to take care of in the day-to-day operation of your department and your company. We give you case studies, news updates, best practices and training tips that keep your organization fully in compliance with ever-changing employment law, and you fully aware of emerging HR trends.
The current circumstances around healthcare are forcing hospitals to take a hard look at consolidation, maybe more than ever before. Matt Heywood, CEO of Aspirus Health, is aware of that as much as anyone as the leader of a health system that just closed its own merger. Earlier this month, the Wausau, Wisconsin-based operator combined with Duluth, Minnesota-based St. […]
A new measure signed into law by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis that prohibits local workplace standards requiring drinking water and cooling measures increases the risk of worker deaths from heat exposure, according to worker safety advocates. “The bill in Florida threatens to strip millions of workers of fundamental heat protection measures, such as access to […]
Following Estrada v. Royalty Carpet Mills, Inc., the California Supreme Court’s employee-friendly Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) ruling earlier this year, employers must remain more diligent than ever to prevent and mitigate costly wage and hour litigation. Estrada eliminated one of employers’ central tools to curb sprawling PAGA claims: requesting dismissal based on the court’s […]
Employers worried about the effect of a new joint employer rule are breathing a sigh of relief after a court blocked its implementation, and now employers using independent contractors may also be feeling better. A new rule from the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) would have made it harder for employers to avoid joint employment […]
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Massachusetts General Law Chapter 151B (Chapter 151B) both require employers to provide reasonable accommodations absent undue hardship to employees and to engage in an interactive dialogue with those who need a reasonable accommodation. Employers that fail to do so face legal liability. The recent jury verdict in Menninger […]
Union-organizing efforts aren’t limited to historical union strongholds like manufacturing, construction, and the public sector. Even though unions currently represent only about 1.3% of the financial services industry, they’re looking to organize financial services employees. Case in point: On December 20, 2023, Wells Fargo branch employees in Albuquerque, New Mexico, voted 5 to 3 in […]
Among the many perils of litigation, one of the biggest concerns employers express is the risk of an astronomical jury verdict. On Feb. 1, 2024, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals addressed this issue when it cut an eye-popping $366 million jury verdict against FedEx to just $249,000. The decision in Harris v. FedEx Corporate […]
Question: One of our employees is on intermittent Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) leave. She’s gotten sick and claims it’s unrelated to her reasons for being on FMLA leave. Can we include these days in her FMLA time and have them go unpaid? Answer: No. Unless you have reason to believe she’s being untruthful, […]
The boiling dispute over the unionization of baristas is heading to the U.S. Supreme Court (SCOTUS). Section 10(j) of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) authorizes federal courts to issue preliminary court orders against employers that are allegedly violating federal labor law. This allows the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to seek such extraordinary relief […]
On January 31, the Sixth Circuit published a cautionary tale regarding the “reasonable belief” doctrine involving an employer that fired a disabled employee for a positive drug test for “marijuana.” Airgas USA Sued for Disability Discrimination Over Employee’s Hemp Use In Fisher v. Airgas USA, LLC, Fisher was an operation technician who used power tools, worked […]