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Recently, several big-name clothing retailers—including Polo Ralph Lauren, Abercrombie & Fitch, and Chicos—have been hit with charges that policies requiring employees to buy and wear the retailers’ own clothes violate California’s wage-and-hour rules stating that employers must pay for employee uniforms. Now Abercrombie & Fitch has agreed to pay $2.2 million to settle charges brought […]
Bernard Lopez was an employee of Applied Technology Associates (ATA), which provided contract computer services for the Navy. Lopez sued the Navy, charging that it violated the disability accommodation requirements of the Rehabilitation Act, which is similar to the Americans with Disabilities Act, when it turned down ATA’s request for a handicap parking permit for […]
Last year, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled an employee could sue for bias based only on incidents that occurred within the time period for filing a lawsuit. Now the Ninth Circuit has taken this decision one step further, declaring that employees cannot sue over employment decisions that occurred outside of the limitations period, even if […]
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has proposed changes to the EEO-1 form, which must be filed annually by private employers with 100 or more employees and some federal contractors with 50 or more employees. The changes would increase the number of categories for reporting racial and ethnic background and split the existing “officers and managers” […]
The Ninth Circuit has reversed a lower court’s dismissal of an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission lawsuit charging Pasadena-based law firm Reeves & Associates with sexual harassment and pregnancy discrimination. According to the appeals court, a jury could find that a hostile work environment was created because of founder Robert L. Reeves’ alleged sexual jokes, leering, […]
Could sexual orientation protections be required in your workplace? The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Lawrence v. Texas, which struck down a state law prohibiting sodomy, could have sweeping implications for employers. Although many protections are already available to California employees, the court’s broad language suggests that gay employees may now enjoy more protections under […]
In an effort to keep workers’ compensation reform from becoming bogged down, all bills have been moved into a bicameral conference committee. With a number of bills pending it remains to be seen whether this move will facilitate negotiations and whether any significant reform will result.
The interagency task-force working to develop an updated definition of who is a job applicant for federal EEO recordkeeping and reporting purposes will have until Sept. 30 to complete its task. The existing definition, which has been under review for two years, fails to address the number of unsolicited job applications that employers receive over […]
For tax years beginning after 2001, a retirement plan can now allow participants who are at least age 50 or older at the end of the plan year to make catch-up contributions to their accounts.
For the first time since 1986, the U.S. Department of Labor has proposed new rules affecting the COBRA notice requirements. COBRA rules affect individuals’ rights to continue group health coverage under certain circumstances. For employers the consequences for not giving written notice in accordance with COBRA rules can be steep, including having to pay an […]