Practical HR Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that wage and hour cases filed in state court under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act can be moved to federal court at an employer’s request. Employers might prefer to have a case heard in federal court for a number of reasons, including the higher standard applied to jury verdicts. […]
Meeting COBRA election notice requirements can be tricky – and even a minor oversight can potentially be expensive. A recent opinion letter from the Department of Labor clarifies the process for providing COBRA election notices to households with more than one qualified beneficiary. If several beneficiaries live at the same address, you can send their […]
What should our organization be doing about the pandemic flu threat?
A new absenteeism survey by Commerce Clearing House Inc. indicates that absenteeism costs climbed to an all-time high in 2002—even though absenteeism itself dropped slightly. Employers spent an annual average of $789 per employee for unscheduled days off, up from $755 in 2001. While workers listed illness as the most common reason for calling in […]
The U.S. Supreme Court will decide whether age-neutral policies violate the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) if they adversely impact older workers. The federal appeal courts are split as to whether “disparate impact” claims—which allege that a neutral policy or practice had an adverse, although unintentional, impact on a protected group—are permitted under the […]
The Department of Homeland Security, in partnership with the Advertising Council, has launched a campaign to educate small and mid-sized employers about engaging in emergency preparedness efforts to protect their employees, business operations, and assets. The program includes a website, http://www.ready.gov, with extensive information on emergency planning, including a sample emergency plan, emergency supplies checklist, […]
September 27, 2010 On and after March 30, 2010, both coverage under an employer-provided health plan and amounts paid or reimbursed under such a plan for medical care expenses of an employee’s child who has not attained age 27 as of the end of the employee’s taxable year are excluded from the employee’s gross income […]
The revised federal per diem rates for travel expense reimbursement became effective Oct. 1. Between now and Dec. 31, you can choose to use either the old or the new rate, although you have to be consistent for the entire period. The new rates must be used as of Jan. 1, 2001. In the future, […]
In a development that highlights the expensive consequences of misclassifying employees as exempt from overtime, San Francisco-based Pacific Bell has reportedly promised to pay out huge damages-$27.8 million-to settle a class action lawsuit involving claims for unpaid overtime. The case involved 600 current and former sales support managers who were classified as exempt from overtime. […]
A California Court of Appeal has ruled that employment decisions made by religious institutions about ministerial employees, like clergy members, are not covered by state anti-discrimination laws. The case was brought by a female chaplain at Chapman University. The chaplain claimed that her hours were cut back in retaliation for reporting incidents of alleged sexual […]