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The Ninth Circuit has thrown out a $15 million class-action settlement in a case accusing Boeing Co. of workplace bias. A group of employees had challenged the settlement, arguing that it was inequitable because some victims would have received up to 16 times more money than others, and that it didn’t do enough to prevent […]
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 […]
A colleague recently asked me what it takes to be a successful human resource professional in today’s employee-centric business environment. While not an easy question to answer, it was a good question that gave me pause. After much thought and conversations with the many human resource management experts here at the HR Daily Advisor, I’ve […]
Several counties, and possibly other public employers as well, may soon be paying out a lot more in retirement benefits. The reason is a new decision by the state Supreme Court that said a Southern California county improperly excluded certain cash payments when calculating pensions under the County Employees’ Retirement Law. Retirees File Suit In […]
Among the employment-related bills recently signed by the governor is one requiring that employers with 50 or more employees conduct sexual harassment training for supervisors every two years. A.B. 1825 goes into effect Jan. 1, 2006, and now is the time to begin preparing.
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 […]
If your employees travel around the world as part of their job duties, they can face a variety of unique safety concerns, including political unrest or acts of terrorism. One of the things you can do to ensure their safety is to make sure they have access to up-to-date information regarding dangerous airports or countries, […]
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has approved a rule that would allow employers to reduce or cut retiree health benefits once a retiree becomes eligible for Medicare or a comparable state-sponsored health benefit—without violating the Age Discrimination in Employment Act. According to the U.S. General Accounting Office, 10 million retired employees age 55 and over […]
Employer monitoring of employee Internet access is a hot issue. Federal Ninth Circuit judges recently jumped into the fray by shutting off surveillance software that monitored court employees’ Internet use, stating that such monitoring without prior notice to employees could be illegal. Now the body that governs the federal court system is requiring federal courts […]
The U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal has upheld the City of Berkeley’s living wage law in the face of a challenge to its constitutionality.1Berkeley’s law, enacted in 2000, requires certain city contractors and lessees to pay workers a minimum hourly wage a few dollars higher than state and federal minimums, plus health benefits. […]