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New OSHA reporting requirement takes effect January 1

by Judith E. Kramer A new rule from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) requiring employers to notify the agency when an employee is killed on the job or suffers a work-related hospitalization, amputation, or loss of an eye goes into effect on January 1 for workplaces under OSHA’s jurisdiction. The rule also updates […]

Minimum Wage Requirements 101

Does your organization pay minimum wage for any roles? What about roles that are paid above minimum wage, but still close to it? Did you know this may not be enough to be legal if you’re taking certain deductions off that pay? Did you know that you may not be able to pay only the […]

Compliance framework is proposed for Canada’s Temporary Foreign Worker Program

by Thora Sigurdson In June 2014, the Canadian government introduced changes to the country’s Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP). These changes were intended to make it more difficult and expensive for Canadian employers to hire temporary foreign workers (TFWs), thereby encouraging employers to search within Canadian borders to staff their workforce. While the changes to […]

Guidance for HR when racial tension spreads from streets to workplace

As protests rage around the country following recent grand jury decisions in Missouri and New York not to indict police officers involved in the deaths of two unarmed black men, employers may find tension spilling into the workplace. In November, a grand jury decided not to indict Officer Darren Wilson in the shooting death of […]

Alcoholism, alcohol abuse, and the workplace―navigating legal risks

By Holly K. Jones Q We administer a voluntary leave program through which workers can donate paid leave to their colleagues to obtain necessary medical treatment. Recently an employee asked to use the program to seek substance abuse treatment for alcoholism. This isn’t the type of treatment we had in mind when we established the […]

What does the immigration executive action mean for employers?

by Christine D. Mehfoud Whether the president’s recent series of immigration-related executive actions will survive potential legal challenges and congressional action remains to be seen. For now, set aside your political views (while I love a good political debate, this space is for practical business implications), and let’s focus on how the executive actions will […]

Return-to-work woes: EEOC challenges medical release requests under ADA, GINA

by Geoffrey D. Rieder In a lawsuit filed in September, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) alleges that a Minnesota-based power company violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA) by requiring an employee returning from medical leave to execute overbroad medical release forms for a fitness-for-duty medical examination. […]

WFH

EEOC brings first lawsuits alleging transgender discrimination

by Arielle B. Sepulveda On September 25, 2014, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) filed two lawsuits, the first actions by the agency in which it has alleged that discharging an employee because she is transgender constitutes discrimination on the basis of sex and therefore violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. […]

Give Your Employees the Gift of Stress Management Training

  The latest StressPulse report by ComPsych, a provider of employee assistance programs, found that 64 percent of employees report high levels of stress. Noted ComPsych CEO Richard A. Chaifetz, Psy.D, “Sustained, high levels of stress have a deleterious effect on work product as well as physical health.” He said proactively addressing the issue is […]

Fear Shouldn’t Prevent You from Achieving Your Goals

“What would you attempt to do if you knew you could not fail?” I came across that question in a book the other day, and it really got me thinking. I firmly believe there are many things we don’t try because we’re convinced we won’t succeed. The thinking goes, “Why even go down that road […]