Practical HR Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
Workplace stress plagues the American workforce. Recent surveys suggest that 40% of workers find their jobs to be “very stressful” and 26% are often burned out by them. The economy’s recent downturn makes matters even worse: workers may feel a need to prove their value at the same time that supervisors are being forced to […]
Employer Survey: Most Employers Have A Workplace Violence Policy But Few Provide Training
Doris Rowe, an exempt supervisor at Laidlaw Transit Inc., was restricted to part-time work after suffering an on-the-job injury. Laidlaw paid her by the hour while she was on the reduced schedule and resumed paying her salary when she returned to work full time. Rowe sued Laidlaw for back overtime, arguing that by paying her […]
In an appeal by the Cleveland Indians baseball team, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that back wages are subject to federal Social Security and unemployment taxes in the year they are paid, rather than in the year they were earned. The dispute arose out of a settlement of grievances asserted by major league baseball […]
Some common misconceptions keep small employers from offering health benefits to their employees, according to a recent study by the UCLA/UC Berkeley Health Insurance Policy Program. The study revealed that 38 percent of California employers with 10 to 50 employees don’t offer coverage. The reasons why include these erroneous perceptions: it’s too expensive; it doesn’t […]
Karen Brown, a Lucky Stores Inc. supermarket checker, was arrested for drunk driving, possession of methamphetamines and being under the influence of illegal drugs. She missed two work shifts because she was in jail. The court then ordered her to enter a 90-day round-the-clock drug treatment program the next day, forcing her to miss a […]
The U.S. Supreme Court has handed down a new ruling that provides some guidance on when a single remark can amount to sexual harassment. The court also looked at when the timing of a punitive action against a complaining employee does and doesn’t support a retaliation claim. As we’ll explain, the decision suggests that your […]
Mary Jefferson, a teacher’s assistant for the California Youth Authority (CYA), said that a CYA teacher and his students regularly used derogatory language when referring to women, such as “bitch,” “whore” and “slut.” Jefferson filed a workers’ compensation claim, contending that she suffered work-related stress from a sexually hostile work environment. Jefferson also filed a […]
If you use on-call employees, it’s important to understand when you have to pay for their on-call time. In a recent case, an employer failed to properly compensate its on-call workers and was clobbered with a steep bill for two years of back overtime. We’ll provide guidance to help you determine when you must pay […]
During the 12 years Charles Starzynski was a program director for Capital Public Radio Inc. in Sacramento, his supervisor, Paul Corriveau, orally assured him his employment could only be terminated for good cause. Then Starzynski was asked to sign an at-will contract. It stated that his employment was at will and could be terminated at […]