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BusinessWeek ranks business books that are the most recent bestsellers and provides a short summary. 1. Hot, Flat, and Crowded: Why We Need a Green Revolution–and How It Can Renew America by Thomas L. Friedman. New York Times columnist Friedman offers an urgent plea to unleash U.S. creativity—and capitalism—on the challenges of energy, climate change, […]
Last week the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that when public employees make statements as part of their official duties, those statements are not protected free speech. The case involved Richard Ceballos, a deputy district attorney for Los Angeles County who claimed his supervisors retaliated against him for sending a memo that said an affidavit […]
According to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, age discrimination charges are the fastest growing type of bias case. From 1999 to 2001, the number of age complaints filed with the agency increased 23.5%. The EEOC points out that age charges—most of which involve employment termination—typically spike in a poor economy as layoffs increase.
When the Las Vegas Sands Hotel casino closed its doors, it gave workers 45 days’ advance notice, rather than the 60 days required under the federal Worker Adjustment Retraining and Notification (WARN) Act. So the Sands was required to pay workers their wages for the remaining 15-day period. Now the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals […]
In a divided 4-3 ruling, the California Supreme Court has declared unconstitutional state laws limiting marriage to opposite-sex couples.1 The case arose out of San Francisco’s move, back in 2004, to issue marriage licenses to gay and lesbian couples. The decision was immediately challenged, and the California Supreme Court ruled then that the marriages were […]
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has announced the latest in its elaws FirstStep Internet tools, the FirstStep Recordkeeping, Reporting, and Notices Advisor, which will help employers figure out which of the agency’s recordkeeping, reporting, and notice requirements apply to them. The FirstStep series also includes interactive tools on poster requirements and an overview of […]
In early January, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to raise the federal minimum wage from $5.15 per hour to $7.25 per hour over a period of 26 months. The legislation did not include tax breaks to offset the impact on employers. Now, however, the measure has failed to win enough votes in the Senate, […]
Critics say health reform is part of a disturbing trend of the government displacing free markets, and they note that it looks unlikely to curtail spiraling health costs. Well, now Rep. Sean Duffy (R-Wis.) – a freshman House member – has introduced a bill that would repeal the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) […]
Yesterday’s post featured Patty McCord, the architect of that culture and the creator of the Netflix Culture Deck—a popular resource that has over 20 million views—who recently sat down with the HR Works podcast to discuss company culture and leadership.
Nearly four months after an appeals court ruled that recess appointments to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) made in 2012 were invalid, another appellate court has ruled a previous recess appointment unconstitutional. The U.S. 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals ruled May 16 in NLRB v. New Vista Nursing & Rehab. that President Barack Obama’s […]