Practical HR Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
by Mark I. Schickman For the past month, the most interesting show in San Francisco has been the trial of Ellen Pao’s sexual harassment and sex discrimination case against investment firm Kleiner Perkins. Pao, who engaged in a sexual relationship with a Kleiner Perkins partner early in her career, claims that the firm is a […]
by Kylie Crawford TenBrook According to a 2012 Stanford University sociology study, 10 percent of people meet their spouses at work. Coworker dating is common. Unfortunately, not all relationships end well, and when they don’t, employers can face harassment and retaliation claims. Although most businesses have no rules about office relationships, now may be the […]
by Jeffrey A. Gruen The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) will now refer all untimely retaliation claims to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to determine whether an employer engaged in an unfair labor practice (ULP) under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). Background On March 6, 2014, David Michaels, OSHA’s assistant secretary of […]
You may feel like a twit when it comes to your understanding of Twitter, but it is time to add the word “Twibel” to your company’s vocabulary — and more importantly, to your overall social media strategy, says Porter Wright employment law attorney Sara Jodka. Libel occurs when someone prints a false and malicious statement […]
A series of agency Q&As resolves a few questions relating to complying with federal health care reform, such as correctly counting participants’ out-of-pocket expenditures; wellness program reward administration; and the status of “carved-out” benefits. In latest set of Frequently Asked Questions, the U.S. Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services and the Treasury provide some […]
A new city ordinance would require employers doing business in San Francisco to consider flexible scheduling for workers with caregiving responsibilities. The city’s Board of Supervisors passed the Family Friendly Workplace Ordinance Oct. 1, and remains to be signed by the city’s mayor. It would amend the city’s administrative code to allow employees in San Francisco to […]
Leave policy administration under the FMLA and the ADA presents numerous challenges to employers. Following is a “Do” and “Do Not” list based on the outcomes of 10 interference and retaliation claims by aggrieved employees that the courts have heard in the last five months. Do see if short-term disability benefits are granted or denied to […]
Employers, pay heed. A recent court outcome — and hefty monetary award for the employee — reiterate the fact that alcoholism is a disability protected under the Americans with Disabilities Act. Following a five-day trial a federal jury in Pennsylvania awarded more than $109,000 to a cook whose rights, it found, had been violated when […]
by Mark I. Schickman I keep waiting for the day that employment discrimination claims disappear. We spend a ton of time training employees to prevent and avoid discriminatory conduct, and the proper behavior is pretty intuitive. So, logically, employment discrimination should have been eradicated, like polio and smallpox. It would be terrible for my business […]
Low-wage workers in cities across the country carried signs and voiced demands for higher pay last week, but those strikes and similar work stoppages last May differ from traditional walkouts. Unlike in most strikes, the picketers aren’t part of a union although they are getting encouragement from organized labor, especially from the Service Employees International […]