Short Takes: IRS Standard Mileage Rate
Has the IRS permanently changed the standard mileage reimbursement rate?
Archives
Temporary Employees: Are Employers Obligated to Check Up on Employment Agencies?
We have two main types of nonemployee workers: temps (who usually work just a few days or weeks) and leased employees (who work basically full time). In both cases, we pay a fee to the agency and the leasing company, and they handle all the employment matters, including hiring, payment, and benefits. My question is […]
Auto Insurance: How Do We Ensure that Employees’ Auto Insurance Meets Company Requirements?
Many of our employees drive their privately owned vehicles on company business. We’re concerned about their insurance. Can we make them provide us with a “Certificate of Liability Insurance” listing us as the certificate holder, so we’ll know for sure that their insurance is in effect? Also we’d like to require that they carry higher […]
You’re the Expert: We’ve gotten mutliple complaints about a worker’s hygiene. What should we do?
We’ve gotten multiple complaints about a worker’s hygiene. He’s a good employee, and we don’t want to offend him, but people have asked to be moved away from his cubicle, and one has even threatened to quit. What should we do?
Overtime and Long Shifts: Can 12-Hour Shifts Be Implemented Without Overtime?
I’d like to move my employees from a 5-day week to a 3- or 31/2-day week—that is, change over to 12-hour shifts from 8-hour shifts. Is there a way to do this without paying overtime? And is there any downside? — Alan, HR manager in San Diego
Sexual Harassment: What’s the Best Way to Handle a Sexual Harassment Investigation?
In our various operations, we’ve been dealing with several sexual harassment complaints. We have three questions:
Meal Periods
This meal period deal is driving me nuts. The workers on our assembly line usually work 6-hour shifts. Most of the crew want to work through the meal break, and we’d like that too—more productivity. But we have a few who insist on their meal break. And we can’t run the assembly line without the […]
Senate Rejects Boost in Federal Minimum Wage
Measures to raise the federal minimum wage to $6.25 per hour, up from the current $5.15 per hour, failed in the Senate last week. One measure, introduced by Senator Edward Kennedy (D-Mass) as an amendment to a spending bill, was rejected in a 51-47 vote, and a similar GOP-introduced bill went down in a 57-42 […]
New ADA Guidance on “Association” Discrimination
As part of National Disability Awareness Month, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has issued guidance discussing how federal law protects applicants and employees who associate with someone who is disabled.
Los Angeles Transit Agency Settles Religious Accommodation Suit
The U.S. Department of Justice and the Los Angeles Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) have reached a settlement in a lawsuit that accused the transit agency of religious discrimination.