Practical HR Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
by Jonathan R. Mook The American Medical Association (AMA) has officially designated obesity as a disease. In doing so, it explained that obesity is a “multi-metabolic and hormonal disease state” that leads to unfavorable outcomes like type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. The AMA’s action has focused renewed attention on the so-called obesity epidemic and […]
It’s crucial for employers to understand their obligations under both California and federal leave and disability laws—especially given the recent changes to California’s pregnancy disability leave (PDL) regulations. Let’s start with some PDL basics:
Federal employers and contractors may soon have new disability regulations to follow, two federal agencies have announced. Both the U.S. Department of Labor and the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission have said they will issue new regulations for the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, which prohibits discrimination in hiring and employment practices by the federal government […]
Dealing with depression and other mental disabilities in the workplace can be challenging. This is especially true if an employer also has to combat negative attitudes towards the affected employees that hinder compliance with the law. California employers need to be aware of assumptions and attitudes about emotional or mental disabilities that can lead to […]
An employer will pay $88,500 to settle claims that it failed to provide the right accommodation to a worker with a disability, in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act. The settlement resolves a lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission behalf of Jose Arteaga Rivas, a sheet metal mechanic who worked for […]
Employees need not have a disability to challenge the legality of an employer’s required medical exams, the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled in a case of first impression. At the same time, the court also reaffirmed the ability of an employer to request an examination because it was related to performing a […]
The U.S. Supreme Court again refused to decide whether the Americans with Disabilities Act requires employers to reassign employees with disabilities to vacant positions, without requiring them to compete with other candidates. The Court declined May 28 to hear EEOC v. United Airlines Inc., No. 10-cv-01699, 2012 WL 718503 (7th Cir. March 7, 2012). The circuit-court divide on […]
Because many mental disabilities are hard to spot, hard to diagnose, and hard to handle, employers may either give too much attention (fear, stigma, termination) or too little (pretending they don’t exist). Either approach is problematic.
If you have a nondiscretionary bonus plan that is awarded to nonexempt employees at intervals greater than each week (for example, on a quarterly, semiannual, or annual basis), you are required to retroactively calculate the bonus into the employee’s “regular rate” of pay.
Does your company use a PTO policy or a vacation policy? In California, it matters more than it might seem because of the way the law treats vacation days as accrued wages. So be careful if you’re switching to a PTO policy—be sure you understand how the law will treat the accrued days. The difference […]