Practical HR Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
The American workforce is getting older, and age-bias complaints are prevalent. In 2003, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission received 19,124 age-discrimination claims and recovered $48.9 million in damages for age-bias victims. And big cases regularly hit the headlines. In July 2004, for example, Google, the California-based Internet search engine company, was sued for age bias […]
Special from Atlanta–SHRM Annual Conference and Exhibition Condoleezza Rice’s thought-provoking comment about the immigration situation in the United States came at SHRM’s Annual Conference and Exposition, held recently in Atlanta Georgia. Three Big Developments HR managers need to be aware of the effect of three incidents that are shaping our world today, Rice says. 9/11. […]
The following is a list of the bestselling paperback business books as ranked by the New York Times on February 7. 1. The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference by Malcolm Gladwell. How and why certain products and ideas become fads. 2. Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of […]
The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to review a Ninth Circuit ruling upholding a San Francisco ordinance requiring contractors to provide domestic partner benefits. The case involved S.D. Myers Inc., an Ohio company that was denied a city contract because it refused to provide its employees with domestic partner benefits. The company unsuccessfully charged that […]
In yesterday’s Advisor, we gave you the first 6 of 10 steps to take if you are sued. Today, we’ll find four more critical actions you must take, and we’ll take a look at a unique HR problem solver. Here, again courtesy of the Employer Resource Institute®, are "We’ve been sued!" tips 7 through 10. […]
To expedite distribution of retirement assets from companies in Chapter 7 bankruptcy proceedings, the U.S. Department of Labor wants to allow bankruptcy trustees to use its Abandoned Plan Program. This program establishes a process to terminate abandoned plans so that plan participants and beneficiaries gain quicker access to their benefits; currently, however, bankruptcy trustees do […]
Last month, the Industrial Welfare Commission rejected a labor-backed petition to increase the state minimum wage, currently at $6.75 per hour. The California Labor Federation reintroduced the petition for IWC consideration at a February 21, 2003 public meeting. But the IWC has once again rejected the petition.
In spite of the suspension of employer penalties under health care reform, the government strongly encourages employers to: (1) maintain or expand coverage; and (2) report on minimum affordable coverage under Section 6055 and/or 6056 rules. It’s important for employers to get experience gathering data and setting up systems for that reporting, Rachel Levy, an […]
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) was enacted in February 2009. Among other things, the ARRA provides a COBRA premium subsidy for employees who are laid off or terminated. The subsidy requires employers to pay for 65 percent of a separated employee’s COBRA premium, which the federal government then reimburses to employers.