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Noncompetes– Are They Enforceable or Not?

In the last issue of the Advisor, we covered tips for dealing with noncompetes. Today, more detail on that, plus how to train your supervisors and managers on hiring (and everything else). For some more guidance on dealing with noncompetes, we turned to the HR Red Book (What to Do About Personnel Problems in [Your […]

Guaranteed New Year’s Resolution—Bulletproof FLSA Compliance

Happy New Year, readers. Here’s one resolution that you can easily keep—to audit your exemptions and pay practices (before the feds make good on their resolution to do it for you).  If yours is like most organizations, you’ll get the biggest bang for your New Year’s buck with an FLSA audit. The astounding amounts of […]

New York Times: Paperback Bestseller List

The following is a list of the bestselling paperback business books as ranked by the New York Times on February 18. 1. The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell. (Back Bay/Little, Brown, $14.95.) How and why certain products and ideas become fads.) 2. The World Is Flat by Thomas L. Friedman. (Picador, $16.) A columnist for […]

Leave, Contract, Public Policy May ‘Protect’ from Firing

In yesterday’s Advisor, we presented the first two “fire-retardant” categories; today, three more, plus an introduction to a new online training system for your managers and supervisors. Some employees are “fire-retardant”—that is, tricky to fire because of their position, but they’re not impossible to fire. Here are three more categories of employees who may be […]

Brinker and Brinkley: The Saga Continues

In the January issue of California Employer Advisor, we reported on Brinkley v. Public Storage, Inc., which held that employers are required merely to provide employees with meal and rest periods, not ensure that employees actually take them (CEA online subscribers can read more on the case here).

News Notes: Alternative Workweek Reporting Requirements Announced

The Industrial Welfare Commission has clarified how to report alternative workweek election results under California’s new overtime law. Within 30 days of the election, you should send in your company name, the date of the election, the final election counts, the alternative workweek schedule adopted or repealed, and a statement of compliance. This statement can […]

OSHA Beefing Up Whistleblower Program

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has announced changes aimed at strengthening its protection of employees who report suspected unlawful activity on the part of their employers. The plan to correct problems with the Whistleblower Protection Program comes after OSHA conducted a top-to-bottom review prompted by audits of the program by the Government Accountability […]

Hurricane Reminds We Really Aren’t in Control of Some Things

For all of us who pride ourselves on being in control of things at all times, Mother Nature served up a big reminder — in the form of Hurricane Irene — that we’re not in control of as much as we would like to think we are. A lot of executives mistakenly believe they’re in […]

Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity Protection Considered

By Stephen J. Stine The categories of persons entitled to legal protection under federal antidiscrimination law have remained the same for almost 20 years. The last major expansion of federal antidiscrimination protection occurred in 1990, when Congress enacted the Americans with Disabilities Act to protect individuals with an actual or perceived disability or a history […]

NYC To Require Accommodations for Pregnant Workers

Pregnant employees in New York City will soon be entitled to workplace accommodations, thanks to a bill the city’s council unanimously passed Sept. 24. While the Americans with Disabilities Act requires workplace accommodations for employees with disabilities, it does not consider normal pregnancy a disability. According to the bill, the change was necessary because of […]