Practical HR Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
Agreements to arbitrate employment disputes are more popular than ever with employers because they can help avoid expensive and risky litigation. They are also controversial because some believe it’s unfair to require employees to agree in advance to submit employment claims to arbitration, giving up the right to a jury trial and potentially huge damages. […]
What a difference a couple of years makes. Not so long ago, a flurry of states passed legislation or ballot initiatives to increase their minimum wage rates. As recently as 2009, there were minimum wage increases in 24 states. Since then, it appears that changes in the political climate and in the economy have completely […]
A San Francisco jury has ordered the nation’s largest wholesale baker to pay $11 million in compensatory damages and a whopping $120 million in punitive damages to African-American workers who said they were subjected to racial slurs, unequal treatment and other indignities by co-workers and supervisors at three Bay Area plants. Workers testified that they […]
On March 18, Governor Mitch Daniels signed into law a bill allowing most employees in the state to bring weapons onto their employer’s property as long as the weapons are kept out of plain sight in locked vehicles. The bill will take effect July 1, 2010. In the signing statement accompanying the bill, Governor Daniels […]
The federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and its California counterpart, the California Family Rights Act (CFRA), allow workers to take time off each year to care for their own or a family member’s serious health condition, or to bond with a new child. Employers have complained about certain aspects of the law for […]
A new U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) rule gives employers some relief regarding their ability to reduce or eliminate retirees’ healthcare benefits once they become eligible for Medicare. Such a reduction or elimination will not violate the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), the federal statute that prohibits age-based discrimination, the new rule states. […]
California employers have long faced complex discrimination issues because of the state’s diverse population. And now a recently enacted state law imposes new restrictions on employers’ ability to set workplace language rules. Language Restrictions Must Be Justified Under the new measure, A.B. 800, it’s illegal to adopt or enforce a policy that limits or prohibits […]
If two employees get into a scuffle at work and one is hurt, you might assume that the injured employee’s only recourse against you is to file a workers’ compensation claim. But a San Diego jury’s staggering verdict demonstrates that if you don’t respond appropriately to an altercation, you could find yourself on the losing […]
In yesterday’s Advisor, attorneys Deanna Brinkerhoff and Dora Lane helped us understand DOL’s misclassification crackdown; today, what to do about it, plus some good news—your job descriptions are ADA-compliant and up to date. Classification of workers as employees or independent contractors is a murky area, but there are some safe harbors and some steps every […]