Practical HR Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
If you’re considering hiring minors to help out during the holiday season, be sure to double-check the rules. Toys ‘R’ Us has just agreed to pay $200,000 to settle Labor Department allegations that the toy retailer violated federal rules covering the employment of minors. The government charged that 14- and 15-year-olds were hired to work […]
Last year, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal ruled that, in most cases, an employer doesn’t have to make an exception to an established seniority system to provide an accommodation to a disabled worker. Now, the same court has clarified its original ruling, going even farther in protecting seniority policies. The case involved a disabled […]
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has issued new enforcement guidelines stating for the first time that federal anti-discrimination laws protect undocumented workers. According to the EEOC, illegal immigrants who are subjected to workplace discrimination, sexual harassment or retaliation can sue their employers and receive lost wages, punitive damages and attorneys’ fees. A court could also […]
IBM¹s recent announcement that it was converting from a traditional pension plan to a cash-balance plan triggered angry employee protests and age discrimination allegations. Now, government agencies and federal legislators are vowing to take a closer look at the impact cash-balance plans have on older workers. Unlike traditional pension plans in which workers earn most […]
A new measure signed by Governor Davis expands existing law that permits employees to take unpaid time off from work to serve on a jury or act as a witness. The new law specifies that an employee who is a victim of domestic violence or other crimes may also take time off to attend court […]
The IRS has increased the mileage rate commonly used to reimburse employees for business use of a car from 31 cents to 32.5 cents per mile. The new rate applies to miles driven beginning January 1, 2000.
California law has long prohibited workplace discrimination based on pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions. Now Governor Davis has expanded the law by inking new legislation that lets a pregnant worker sue if you refuse to grant a reasonable accommodation request.
One advantage of using independent contractors has traditionally been that you could not be sued for many employment-related disputes. But because Governor Davis has just signed a new law expanding harassment protections to independent contractors, you will now have to be more cautious in how you deal with them. The measure takes effect January 1, […]
A trial court has given the go-ahead to a class action overtime lawsuit by 2,300 California Taco Bell managers and assistant managers. The workers allege that they were misclassified as exempt employees and wrongfully denied overtime pay by the restaurant chain. They claim that they spent more than half of their working time performing nonmanagerial […]
California law forbids employers from taking any part of an employee’s tips. But a trial court has decided this rule didn’t prevent The Castaway restaurant in Burbank from withholding a portion of waiters’ tips that were paid with credit cards to help defray charge card transaction fees the restaurant had to pay. The state Labor […]