Author: Brian Kurtz

HR sports roundup: football, futbol, and fireworks

As we head into the July 4 weekend, your EntertainHR sports reporters cover America’s favorite pastime–litigation! The women who cheer football got a boost this week when the Oakland Raiders announced they would pay their Raiderettes the California minimum wage of $9 per hour beginning this coming season.  This blog first covered the story back in […]

Productivity vs. distraction: What keeps workers on and off track?

Employers are always on a quest for higher productivity. They examine what kind of technology, office design, organizational structure, time management training, etc. will boost performance and the bottom line. But no matter how careful an organization is, distractions can derail even the best laid plans. CareerBuilder recently released a study on what it calls […]

Georgia’s new gun law has implications for employers

by Leanne Mehrman and Chelsey McDade Georgia’s newest gun law, the Safe Carry Protection Act of 2014, goes into effect on July 1 and greatly expands the list of places where licensed gun owners may legally carry their weapons to include schools, government buildings, churches, and bars. Employers, however, can take advantage of certain limits […]

High court lets Hobby Lobby, others opt out of contraception coverage under ACA

The U.S. Supreme Court reviewed the Affordable Care Act (ACA) again this term, and today, it held in Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc. that the ACA’s contraceptive mandate violates the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 (RFRA) as it is applied to “closely held corporations.” According to the Court’s 5-4 opinion, the mandate “substantially […]

Massachusetts set for highest minimum wage in U.S.

by Susan G. Fentin Massachusetts is set to soon have the highest minimum wage in the country. On June 26, Governor Deval Patrick signed a bill that will raise the state’s minimum wage from $8 per hour to $11 an hour by 2017, the highest statewide minimum wage in the country and a full 50 […]

Lactation intolerance

When Karlesha Thurman got ready for her college graduation ceremony, she probably had no idea that she would be picking up international news coverage along with her accounting degree. Thurman’s three-month-old daughter became hungry during the festivities and Thurman did what countless other mothers have done–she nursed her hungry baby. A friend snapped a photograph […]

When Harry left Sally: employers’ obligation to offer insurance postdivorce

by Kathryn M. Grigg Although employers may want to avoid the uncomfortable topic with employees, you can’t avoid your legal obligations to an employee’s former spouse postdivorce. For a period of time after a divorce, you’re required to offer health insurance continuation and conversion benefits to an employee’s former spouse and dependents. Here’s a summary […]

Obama’s three NLRB recess appointments were invalid, Supreme Court rules

On June 26, 2014, the U.S Supreme Court unanimously upheld the decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in Noel Canning v. NLRB, concluding that President Barack Obama’s three recess appointments to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB)—Sharon Block, Richard Griffin, and Terence Flynn—were not valid.  Accordingly, since three out of the […]

Utah case puts same-sex marriage issue on track to go before Supreme Court

Utah’s constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage suffered another blow in a June 25 ruling from the U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals, and that ruling makes it likely that the issue of same-sex marriage will go before the U.S. Supreme Court. The 10th Circuit’s decision upheld a December 2013 federal district court ruling that struck […]