Practical HR Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
A former employee sued her employer under the California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) for violations of public policy after her request to rescind her resignation—made while her mental state was altered—was declined.
Employers are in a delicate situation when an employee needs to take bereavement leave—not only must they deal very sensitively with the employee who has suffered a loss, but they also must be sure to handle the situation in a way that is both fair (to all employees) and flexible (since each situation may be […]
The federal law on deductions from pay contains few restrictions when compared to the laws in many states. Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), almost any deduction is permitted, even, in some cases, if it reduces the employee’s pay below the minimum wage. Certain deductions may specifically reduce pay below the minimum.
Most restaurants take advantage of the tip credit authorized by federal and Maryland wage and hour law when compensating their servers. If used correctly, the tip credit allows an employer to reduce its labor costs by applying tips earned by employees as a partial credit against the minimum wage they would otherwise be paid for […]
“Who gives [an expletive] about an Oxford comma?” muses the band Vampire Weekend in a hit song. After a recent decision from the 1st Circuit (which covers Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island), I’m sure Oakhurst Dairy cares about the issue quite a bit.
The supreme court recently resolved unsettled questions about the construction of the day-of-rest statutes found in California’s Labor Code. As this article explains, the court answered three questions about employees’ right to a day of rest, when a certain exception applies, and what it means to “cause” an employee to work on a seventh consecutive workday.
In a recent opinion, the 4th Circuit held that an employee failed to show that his former employer’s stated reason for discharging him was a pretext, or excuse, for retaliation based on his use of leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA).
New York City is the most recent addition to the list of jurisdictions that prohibit employers from asking job applicants about their salary history. The restriction on pay history inquiries is intended to shift an employer’s focus from a history-based offer to a market-based offer.
Beneficiary designations, and disputes over them, can be a disproportionate drain of time and other resources spent by administrators of tax-qualified retirement plans. The Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) does not prescribe a particular manner by which participants in ERISA-covered plans must designate their beneficiaries.
Here we present a leave-related workplace scenario—inspired by an actual court case—that’s intended to help HR professionals better understand an employer’s responsibilities under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). In this scenario, an employer mistakenly violates its own internal policy of not laying off employees while they are on leave and eliminates the position […]