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Obama administration issues long-awaited mental health parity regulations

Today the Obama administration released final regulations implementing the Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 (MHPAEA). The MHPAEA is designed to make sure mental health and substance use disorder benefits offered by health plans are in parity with the medical and surgical benefits the plans offer. The […]

Obligations and opportunities in dealing with veteran employment issues

by Susan M. Webman Monday is Veterans Day, so we wanted to take this opportunity to remind you of some of the laws that regulate employing the men and women who have served our country as well as the opportunities that come along with employing veterans. The government’s recent focus on veterans’ employment issues, in […]

Train Employees on Basic Nutrition

November is the perfect time for basic nutrition wellness training because it’s also American Diabetes Month. According to the American Diabetes Association, more than 25 million Americans have diabetes, and more than 75 million have prediabetes and are at risk for developing type 2 diabetes. Type 2 diabetes is highly preventable, however, with a nutritious […]

New Jersey vote puts minimum wage hikes in state constitution

by Tammy Binford The ballot question making changes to New Jersey’s minimum wage was presented to voters in the November 5 election and passed easily, but many business leaders are uneasy about the change. By a 60-40 percent vote, voters passed Public Question 2, which will raise the state’s minimum wage from $7.25 to $8.25 […]

SCOTUS Asks Where to Draw the Line on FLSA Definition of ‘Clothes’

Spectators could be excused for confusing a recent U.S. Supreme Court oral argument session with an episode of TLC’s What Not to Wear. On Nov. 4, the Court heard arguments in Sandifer v. U.S. Steel Corp.(No. 12-417) which focused on how to define “clothes” versus protective equipment and whether time spent donning those items is compensable. The […]

OT with Multiple Rates? Weighted Rate OR Agreement

In yesterday’s Advisor, we presented examples for calculating the “regular rate” pay. Today, overtime with shift differentials and multiple rates of pay, plus an introduction to the guide especially for small or even one-person, HR departments. Example #3—Shift Differentials [Go here for examples 1 and 2] Employers must include shift differential pay when determining an […]

Leggo My Jell-O

Many workplaces seem to have one, a refrigerator thief. The coworker who believes that food in the fridge is there for the taking. While many victims simply vent to colleagues about their missing lunch, or start using Post-it® notes to ward off would-be bandits, there are others who feel the act is a crime—literally. Yes, […]

Cupcake Confections and Their HR Connections

It may not be on your wellness program’s list of healthy foods, but recently cupcakes have been in the news in relation to Human Resources. In the past year, nearly one third (32 percent) of workers have called in sick when not actually ill, according to a recent CareerBuilder survey. Along the same lines, 30 […]

Preventing mixed motive employment discrimination cases

In a mixed motive case, the evidence shows that employer has taken adverse action for a combination of both legitimate and unlawful reasons. When a plaintiff in a Title VII case proves that a protected category played a motivating part in an employment decision, the defendant/employer may avoid a finding of liability only by proving by a preponderance of evidence that it would have made the same decision even if it had not taken the plaintiff's protected characteristic into account.