Practical HR Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
A federal district court judge said January 3 that he won’t halt proceedings in the case challenging the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) new overtime rules, despite concurrent litigation in the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
Yesterday we looked at how the 7th U.S. Circuit Court begrudgingly decided that banning sexual orientation discrimination isn’t guaranteed by law. Today we’ll take a look at how the EEOC looks at the same issue. EEOC’s Position The Hively court also said it was noteworthy that the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), which enforces […]
Well, the Golden Globes were Sunday night and all of Hollywood tuned it to celebrate the best of film and television. One movie that was noticeably absent from the nominations (at least in my opinion) was The Intern, a heartwarming film starring Robert DeNiro and Anne Hathaway, that tells the story of a lovable retiree […]
The number of Fair Labor Standards Act civil lawsuits filed in 2011 declined 7.2 percent, according to a recent report by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts. In all, 6,335 FLSA cases were commenced in district courts nationwide during the 12-month period ended Sept. 30, 2011, down from 6,825 during the same period in […]
By Marisa Victor and Yael Wexler Noncompetition clauses in employment contracts are difficult to enforce in Canada. Courts tend to regard them as unreasonable restraints on trade. Any ambiguity usually will be fatal. Nor will the courts generally use a “blue pencil” to remove ambiguous words. This was made clear in the recent appellate decision […]
By Brian P. Smeenk Canadian labor arbitrators are not legally bound to court-made legal rules. Rules of evidence, for example, are more relaxed. Rules of contract interpretation may also vary. But just how far arbitrators can deviate from general rules of law has been an open question. A recent decision by the Supreme Court of […]
By Rosalind Cooper Recently, courts across Canada seem to be expanding the application and coverage of occupational health and safety legislation, providing broad and liberal interpretations of legislation. But that may be changing. The decision in Ontario (Ministry of Labour) v. Sheehan’s Truck Centre Inc. is being welcomed by many as an indication that the […]
By Jonathan C. Sterling As we have reported in the past, transsexual employees may be protected from discrimination, at least in some cases, by federal and state law. The decisions granting that protection have treated such discrimination as a violation of gender or sex discrimination law. However, courts have been reluctant to recognize that transsexual […]
By Robert P. Tinnin, Jr. Q: This morning I interviewed an applicant for a clerical position in our company. She appeared to be an attractive, personable young woman and was very engaging during the interview. However, I soon learned that “she” is really a “he,” at least anatomically. She told me she is preparing to […]
by Derek Knoechel Sophisticated employers in Canada recognize that the potential costs associated with employee turnover extend far beyond the cost of replacing departing employees. Departures can also place critical business assets at risk. A departing employee may engage in the unauthorized use or disclosure of confidential information ranging from technological know-how, product roadmaps and […]