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The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has reported that workplace discrimination complaints filed by employees in the private sector were up 4.5% in 2002, to the highest level in seven years. The types of bias complaints that saw the greatest increases were those based on religion (up 21% over 2001 figures), age (up 14.5%), and […]
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Pension and Welfare Benefits Administration has changed its name to the Employee Benefits Security Administration, or EBSA. The EBSA will assume the former PWBA’s responsibilities of administering private-sector retirement, health, and other employer-based benefit programs. Visit the EBSA’s website.
Because of increasing diversity in the workforce—and a spike in discrimination complaints since the events of Sept. 11, 2001—taking steps to avoid national-origin bias is more critical than ever. Now, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has released updated guidelines to help employers understand the prohibitions against national-origin discrimination and to suggest best practices for […]
Just two years ago, Wal-Mart reportedly shelled out $50 million to settle a dispute with Colorado employees who claimed they were forced to work off-the-clock. Now the retail giant is embroiled in a string of 30 lawsuits across the country brought by employees who charge that managers required them, too, to work unpaid overtime. In […]
Most California employers know that agreements that restrict employees from competing with former employers are illegal and that California courts won’t enforce them. But because of a new California Supreme Court ruling, it is now riskier for you to hire someone who has signed a noncompete clause with a company from another state. This new […]
You pay hefty premiums for liability insurance. So when a former employee sues your company’s president, you expect that your insurer will defend your organization. But as one employer recently found out, even if you think your insurance policy should cover employment-dispute lawsuits, it probably contains an employment-related practices exclusion—and you could be left to […]
In the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks, President Bush signed into law the USA Patriot Act, amending 15 federal statutes to give law enforcement officials wider latitude in investigating and punishing terrorists. Several provisions in the 342-page law will impact employers—particularly sections regarding records, electronic surveillance, and financial institutions. But because the […]
Generally, employers have 90 days from the date of an employee’s workers’ comp claim to investigate and then accept or deny the claim. And it’s critical not to miss the deadline because if you do, there will be a presumption that the injury is covered by workers’ comp. But suppose a worker who hasn’t filed […]
The Bush administration has proposed rules that would help employers avoid liability for age discrimination when converting traditional pension plans to cash balance plans. We’ll explain what this is about.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics has reported that the number of injuries and illnesses in private industry workplaces continued to edge down in 2001. The 2001 rate of 5.7 injury-and-illness cases per 100 full-time workers was not only an 8% decline from 2000 but also the lowest rate since the agency began reporting this […]