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Lawyer Who Denied Access to Service Dog Gets Bit

By Keeya M. Jeffrey The U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado recently approved a consent decree resolving a lawsuit filed by the Colorado Department of Justice against a Colorado Springs lawyer who refused to allow a woman, her husband, and her lawyer access to his office for a deposition because the woman brought […]

A Wage/Hour Story Told in Million-Dollar Lawsuits

Wage and hour cases often seem piddling—what are a few hours of overtime here and there? But add in other class members (hundreds, thousands?), years (2 or 3?), and damages, and there’s quite a tidy sum you might owe. Here are several recent cases, each with something to teach about managing wage and hour difficulties. […]

Your Company Benefits When It Supports the Community

Forgive me for bragging, but I’ve got a group of fantastic coworkers. Many of them were in action again this morning. You see, some of our people volunteered at the Ronald McDonald House here in Nashville today. As I write this, they’ve already served breakfast to the families staying there and another team will be […]

Why Wait for the EEOC? Expert Clarifies ADAAA Requirements

Nearly two years after Congress passed the ADA Amendments Act (ADAAA), the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced recently that employers should not expect to see new regulations providing a more detailed explanation of the law’s requirements anytime soon. To understand the reasons for the delay and how it may affect employers, we spoke with […]

Readers Say, ‘No Amnesty!’ (Mostly)

By Stephen D. Bruce, PHR Editor, HR Daily Advisor Just My E-pinion Our recent column featuring a question about amnesty for illegal immigrants generated responses from many readers, most of whom voted (or railed) against amnesty. [Go here to read the original column.] The original questioner/writer had low-level positions to fill. No one with a […]

Supreme Court Holds Two-Member NLRB Lacked Quorum, Authority

This morning, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a surprising 5-4 decision holding that the previously short-staffed National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) acted without authority over the two years it had only two members. As a result, more than 500 opinions decided by that Board are now invalid and will need to be readdressed. In addition […]

Supreme Court Rules Public Employee’s Text Messages Not Private

Today, the U.S. Supreme Court held that a public employer did not violate an employee’s constitutional privacy rights by searching his personal (and often sexually explicit) text messages that were sent and received on his employer-issued pager. The Backstory The City of Ontario, California, issued pagers that could send and receive text messages to Ontario […]

Employees Must Be Paid for Donning, Doffing Required Protective Gear

Continuing the recently established practice of issuing broadly applicable “Administrator Interpretations” in lieu of wage and hour opinion letters, U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) Deputy Administrator Nancy Leppink has released the second Administrator Interpretation of 2010. The interpretation, issued June 16, clarifies the definition of “clothes” under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), addressing some […]

Are Your Performance Appraisals Setting You Up for a Lawsuit?

Yesterday’s Advisor offered 10 Rules for Appraisals that will make them stand up in court. (Go here for the 10 Rules.) Today, we feature a checklist to help you review your appraisal system, and we talk about the real first step of any appraisal, a well-written job description. An effective, legally sound performance appraisal is: […]