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In a 14-9 vote, the Senate Finance Committee has approved Senator Max Baucus’ health care reform bill, titled America’s Healthy Future Act of 2009. All the Democrats on the committee and only one Republican voted for the legislation. Senator Olympia Snowe, a Republican from Maine who helped work on the bill and whose vote has […]
The swine flu predictions are flying in all directions—from “no worries” to “half the population will be infected.” If you assume the middle ground is likely, should you be breaking out respirators or other protective gear for employees? CDC’s not sure. It might seem like a no-brainer to get everyone in face masks or respirators […]
It has been just over a year since the Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) issued its decision in Keays v. Honda Canada Inc. (Read our analysis of the court’s decision in that case). That decision mandated a change in Canadian courts’ approach to awarding damages in employment cases. Damages for bad faith conduct by the […]
Sometimes it’s hard to know how to communicate with or assist co-workers with disabilities. Over-eager assistants do more harm than good, while others, concerned that they will say the wrong thing, say nothing—further isolating people with disabilities. Using affirmative language is the first step in communicating well with people with disabilities, says DOL’s Office of […]
The following is a list of the bestselling paperback business books as ranked by the New York Times on October 12. 1. Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything (P.S.) by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner. A maverick scholar and a journalist apply economic theory to everything from cheating sumo […]
In today’s world, simply complying with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) isn’t enough for many employers. They want to be more proactive in creating a disability-friendly workplace. Today, BLR’s experts offer some tips. First of all, the following indicators show that an organization is willing to “walk the talk” of a disability-friendly workplace: The […]
by Jim Goh Behind efforts to assist organized labor and improve the balance between work and family, increasing workplace safety is a top priority for President Barack Obama and the 111th Congress. Both the President and congressional leaders have vowed more funding for the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) […]
Like most federal agencies, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) is a large bureaucracy, housing many levels of subagencies and layers of employees with a host of titles that are unintelligible to outsiders. The DOL has recently decided to do a little streamlining by abolishing the umbrella agency that oversees four of its major units. […]
In the wake of the recent scandal involving late-night host David Letterman, Mike Maslanka, editor of Texas Employment Law Letter, provides advice on how to deal with the relationship dynamics between the top brass and their subordinates in his latest podcast. A top boss must never become romantically involved with a subordinate, says Maslanka. In […]
Most employees today don’t punch a time clock; they generally work a set schedule, such as 9 am to 5 pm. Because these employees work a regular schedule, many employers don’t bother to track their time (or require the employees to track their time). This means that each paycheck reflects pay for the time scheduled […]