New Year, New HR Ideas
The start of a new year is a good opportunity for you to implement changes in policies and procedures in order to reduce your potential exposure to legal claims and make your business more competitive.
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Can You Demand FMLA Fitness-for Duty-Cert? Sure, BUT …
Many employers want a fitness for duty certification when employees return from FMLA leave, especially for those “certain employees.” You can require a certification, but not just for certain employees, and not without carefully following several procedural steps. First of all, the law says that as a condition of restoring an employee who has been […]
New York State Human Resources Administration Employees Steal $8 Million
Three employees of the New York City Human Resources Administration are accused of taking part in a scheme which robbed $8 million dollars from the federal food stamp program, said the New York Times. The individuals had all either worked, or were currently working for the city, where the food stamp program was being administered. […]
2011 Minimum Wage Increases — Is Your State Going to Increase Your Pay?
The answer is “yes,” if you’re one of the 647,000 minimum wage earners in Arizona, Colorado, Montana, Ohio, Oregon, Vermont, or Washington. These seven states are all raising their 2011 minimum wages, according to Consumer Affairs. The raises themselves aren’t much: Washington boasts the highest increase of 12 cents to $8.67, which will add some […]
Bureau of Labor Statistics releases November 2010 Unemployment Numbers
Regional and state unemployment rates changed little from the previous month, reports the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The November 2010 data shows 22 states recording increased unemployment rates, while 15 report decreases, and 14 report no change. The jobless rate nationwide decreased by 0.2 percent between October and November. However, the current rate of 9.8% […]
California State Agencies Over Report Stimulus Jobs
California has received $12.8 billion dollars in federal stimulus funds since February of 2009. State agencies have reported over 54,000 jobs created with these funds. The problem? A recent report by the California Bureau of State Audits found that the job creation numbers are not being recorded accurately. The December 21 audit report looked at […]
Staffing Companies See Profits Gain Despite High Unemployment
U.S. staffing companies are seeing a gain in 2010 profits despite a 26-year high in the national unemployment rate, reports Bloomberg’s Steve Matthews and Anthony Feld. Private companies hired fewer new employees last month than they did in each of the previous 10, with hiring the weakest on record since January. However, this has created […]
Preliminary FLSA Record-Keeping Regulations Expected in April
An agency Web chat hosted by the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) Wage and Hour Division (WHD) on Thursday, January 6, provided expected dates for proposed regulations on record-keeping under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). A Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on the “Right to Know Under the Fair Labor Standards Act” initiative is expected […]
HR Metrics: More on Required Posters and Pamphlets
Yesterday, we looked at some of the main federal posting requirements for employers. Today, we’ll look at what the state requires and also explain a time-saving new resource.
Wal-Mart Employee Class Action in USA – Lessons for Canadian Employers?
By Donna Gallant When the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals (San Francisco) affirmed an order certifying the largest employment discrimination class action ever in the United States, Wal-Mart was left facing a class of up to 1.5 million members. Employers were left wondering just how big and powerful these opponents might get. On December 6, […]