Category: HR Management & Compliance

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.

News Notes: Million-dollar Verdict in Family Leave Case

A Los Angeles jury ordered Sony to pay $1.4 million to Klaus Wang, a company technician for more than 14 years who was fired when he returned to work following a California Family Rights Act medical leave. Sony argued that Wang was terminated for poor job performance and the decision to fire him was made […]

News Notes: OSHA Recommends Workplace Precautions Against West Nile Virus

The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration has released a bulletin providing information on workplace precautions against West Nile virus, an illness transmitted primarily by mosquitoes. This year, hundreds of cases of the virus have been reported in 33 states. And while the virus had so far bypassed California, as we went to press a […]

Bulletin Item: U.S. Supreme Court Has A Number of Employment-Related Cases on 2003-2004 Docket

Those cases include General Dynamics Land Systems Inc. v. Cline, where the high court will consider whether the federal age-bias law permits employees over age 40 to sue because other workers also over age 40 were treated more favorably based on age. In Raytheon Co. v. Hernandez, the justices will decide whether the Americans with […]

Bulletin Item: Gov. Davis Signs Several Employer-related Pieces of Legislation

The newly signed laws expand privacy procedures for Social Security numbers (SB 25), provide leave for crime victims and their families (SB 478), mandate that state government contractors provide domestic partner benefits (AB 17 and AB 205), and require employers to protect workers from sex harassment by nonemployees (AB 76). We’ll have all the details […]

Bulletin Item: Gov. Davis Vetoes Bills Before Leaving Office

Among the bills that failed to win the governor’s approval were AB 1715, which would have prohibited employers from requiring employees to sign agreements to arbitrate Fair Employment and Housing Act claims as a condition of employment; AB 1093, which would have set a living wage for employees of state contractors; AB 1133, which would […]

Workplace Violence: New Case Gives Employers a Tool to Ward Off Tragedy; Restraining Orders Now Easier to Obtain

On July 8, 2003, a worker at a Lockheed Martin Mississippi aircraft parts plant gunned down 14 coworkers, killing five. On August 27, 2003, a disgruntled former employee opened fire at a Chicago auto parts warehouse, killing six former coworkers. These tragedies are just a fraction of the workplace violence incidents—which include the spillover of […]