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Working Through Religious Beliefs in the Workplace

By Sharolyn Whiting-Ralston In today’s world, employers face cultural and faith issues in the workplace. To further complicate matters, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has begun paying more attention to those issues. A recent case out of Tulsa, Oklahoma, serves as a reminder about your obligations when taking into account cultural or religious differences […]

IRS Streamlines Employer Health Coverage Reporting in Proposed Rules

Self-insured employers may not have to report the portion of the premium they pay, because that is not needed to determine if an individual is covered by “minimum essential coverage.” That’s one of a number of reporting items removed or reduced in IRS proposed health care reform rules detailing and streamlining reports on coverage offered […]

Arbitration Of Disputes: Court Upholds Mandatory Arbitration Without Employee’s Signature Or Advance Acknowledgment; Impact On Employers

Following on the heels of a recent California Supreme Court ruling that approved mandatory arbitration agreements for employment disputes, California appellate courts continue to enforce arbitration provisions between employers and employees. In the latest case, a California Court of Appeal required the arbitration of an employment claim even though the employee had never signed an […]

Paying Foreign and Canadian Crews Comparable Wages Not Good Enough

By Thora Sigurdson, Nicola Sutton, and Derek Knoechel SELI Canada Inc. entered into a joint venture with SNC Lavalin and successfully bid on a contract to build a large rapid transit project in the Vancouver area. The so-called “Canada Line” has been a “hot button” project, causing heated debate about the cost to taxpayers, the […]

Holiday Season (and Year-Round) Stress: How to Handle It

Today’s workforce operates under high pressure, especially at holiday season. Here are some tools to help them handle the load. Holiday season is one of the most joyous times of the year, but it’s also one of the most stressful. Gift buying fever is at its peak, and the malls are jammed. Even worse are […]

Hot List: New York Time’s Bestselling Hardcover Business Books

The following is a list of the bestselling hardcover business books as ranked by the New York Times’s with data from Nielsen BookScan on October 18. 1. Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose by Tony Hsieh. The visionary CEO of Zappos explains how an emphasis on corporate culture can lead to unprecedented […]

Blackberries at the Beach: Are Exempt Employees the New Wage Slaves?

By BLR Founder and CEO Bob Brady BLR’s founder and CEO explores the “Blackberries at the beach” phenomenon—the expectation of 24/7 availability even when on vacation. Do nonexempts need to be paid? Are exempts modern day wage slaves? At BLR’s last Employment Law Update conference, several speakers talked about the issue/problem/phenomenon of the “BlackBerry® at […]

Rule on Reform’s Reinsurance Fee Clarifies Payments for Health Plans

Employer-sponsored plans that are secondary to Medicare are not subject to health reform’s expensive transitional reinsurance fee, nor are health flexible spending arrangements, health savings accounts and most health reimbursement arrangements. On March 11, 2013, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services published its final regulation on the transitional reinsurance fee, which takes effect […]