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In 2010, there was a 10 percent increase from 2009 in wage and hour collective- and class-action cases under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). “Collective” and “class” actions are lawsuits with multiple plaintiffs filed by employees who perform substantially the same job. The number of wage and hour cases began to climb as a […]
Last night, my television was playing a marathon of “Office” repeats, leaving us without new catastrophes to dissect. So in an attempt to find something to share with you folks, I contacted my mole in Sabre’s corporate human resources department to see what’s new down in Tallahassee. As it turns out, I have a special treat for […]
Litigation value: $8.99 + tip for Michael’s “free” lunch, although Michael’s tort action for false imprisonment against Mr. Chu and the Chinese restaurant will more than cover it. From an employment liability perspective, it is probably a good thing for Dunder Mifflin/Sabre that Michael’s character is leaving the show soon. One suspects that his soon-to-be-rekindled relationship with […]
December 17, 2010 Determining whether an employer has 50 employees for purposes of the FMLA can be complex. As you are aware, under the FMLA regulations, an employer covered by FMLA is any person engaged in commerce or in any industry or activity affecting commerce, who employs 50 or more employees for each working day […]
This week was another repeat of “Niagara,” the hour-long Pam and Jim wedding episode. Doug Hall and Matt Scott did a nice job with this episode here and here offering different takes on employee behavior outside the office. But seriously, does an employer really have to be concerned about what happens at an employee’s wedding? Yup. The […]
By David McDonald Most Canadian employers are familiar with what they can and can’t do when they’re the target of a union-organizing campaign. Labor legislation across Canada prohibits management from terminating or disciplining employees because of trade union affiliation while a union is attempting to gain representational rights. A recent decision from British Columbia, Playtime […]
Today, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) announced that it has submitted a proposed rule to the Federal Register that would require employers to notify employees of their rights under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). Under this rule, employers governed by the NLRA would have to post an employee rights notice in the same […]
HR Hero Line editor Wendi Watts reviews the book “Fresh Medicine: How to Fix Reform and Build a Sustainable Health Care System” by Phil Bredesen. I first became interested in Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen’s book Fresh Medicine: How to Fix Reform and Build a Sustainable Health Care System after reading an op-ed piece he wrote […]
An old maxim says “never talk about religion or politics,” but how realistic (or even desirable) is that advice? And as the worlds of religion and politics collide, talk of one often crosses the line into speech about the other. While employers don’t want to trample on anyone’s right of free speech, they also can’t […]
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits employment discrimination based on an individual’s religion. Unless, that is, your employer is a religious organization. When three former employees sued World Vision, the question was whether the Christian charity qualified for the exemption. In a recent decision, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, which […]