Practical HR Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
A new federal law now in effect says that if you offer mental health benefits, they must have the same aggregate lifetime and annual limits as medical benefits. The law applies to employers with 50 or more employees. There’s an exemption for employerswho can show the parity requirements will increase their costsby more than 1%. […]
A new California law requires you to give employees who are victims of a crime at work written notice informing them they are eligible for workers’ compensation benefits for their injuries, including psychiatric problems. The notice generally must be provided within one working day of the crime and delivered personally or by first-class mail.
If someone requests a leave of absence because of pregnancy or serious illness, you probably know the federal and state laws that apply. But you may not be aware that there are a host of other rules allowing employees to take leave in other situations-such as going into drug rehab, taking an adult literacy class […]
A jury has handed down a $3.8 million verdict in favor of a hotel manager who complained of race discrimination, thanks to the employer’s overly aggressive reply to the worker’s lawsuit. Rabah Khatib sued his employer, Tower Corp., claiming that he was harassed and discriminated against because he is Arab-American. He also charged that his […]
If a pregnant employee is injured at work and her baby is born with problems, the child can later sue you for damages. That’s the latest word from the California Supreme Court. This new decision could open the door to expensive lawsuits involving fetal injury claims-which won’t be covered by workers’ compensation laws that limit […]
Employers with 20 or more employees who provide health benefits must notify terminated workers of their continuation rights under COBRA. But a new federal appeals court ruling has confirmed you’re required to separately notify the employee and the worker’s spouse of their COBRA rights.7 To protect yourself, Ina Potter, a partner with the San Francisco […]
Over the past few years, pension benefits have come under increased scrutiny by employee advocates who claim benefits are often miscomputed and thus underpaid. If you’re targeted and it turns out you under-calculated retirees’ benefits, you might be surprised to find you owe a lot more money than you set aside. In response to the […]
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 […]
Carol Becker, a terminally ill Eastman Kodak Co. employee, put off taking early retirement in favor of going on long-term disability. She planned to retire a few months later, but then died just three days before her retirement date. Her husband sued Kodak, claiming it violated the Employee Retirement Income Security Act because a company […]
Reaffirming its decision from last fall, the federal Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal covering California has ruled that employees who were misclassified as independent contractors by Microsoft are eligible to participate retroactively in the company’s lucrative stock purchase program and possibly its pension plan as well. Part of Microsoft’s problem was that its forms and […]