Author: Employers State Law Alert

In States Where Unemployment Rates Rise, Employer Costs May Follow

According to the most recent Regional and State Employment and Unemployment Summary from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, state and regional unemployment rates continued their upward climb throughout the month of March. Forty-six states reported unemployment rate increases in March, and all 50 states and the District of Columbia have higher rates than they did […]

So You Think You Can Dance?

Litigation Value:  $250,000 The “Café Disco” episode of The Office might as well have been called “The Hostile Work Environment.” Or “The No Work Environment.” Dunder Mifflin Scranton turned into a coffee house dance bar at the expense of any corporate productivity. A hostile work environment exists when an employee experiences workplace harassment and fears […]

Employing Minors in Dangerous Jobs: A Bad Idea

Employers all over the country will soon be hiring summer workers, many of them minors. If you are an employer with jobs that the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has listed as hazardous to minors, then take note. One Atlanta employer has learned a hard lesson at the expense of a teenage worker’s life. The […]

Employee Trust: Going, Going, Gone!

Trust. Webster’s defines it as “assured reliance on the character, ability, strength, or truth of someone or something; or one in which confidence is placed.” Based on this definition, how many of us would say that the average employee trusts senior management? Not many. In fact, research shows that less than half of all employees […]

Attendance Management Programs and Human Rights

Managing absenteeism can be a significant challenge for Canadian employers. A wide variety of factual situations may be complicated by employment standards, privacy and human rights laws, as well as any applicable union agreements. An example of the potential challenges of implementing an attendance management program (AMP) is the decade-long battle between Coast Mountain Bus […]

New Bill Introduced to Curb Workplace Violence and Harassment

Ontario is looking to reduce violence and harassment in the workplace. To that end, Bill 168, An Act to amend the Occupational Health and Safety Act with respect to violence and harassment in the workplace, received first reading on April 20, 2009. Bill 168, if passed, would amend the Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA). […]

DHS Shifts Worksite Enforcement Strategy to Employers, Not Illegal Workers

On April 30, the Department of Homeland Security distributed its Worksite Enforcement Strategy describing how it plans to step up its efforts to enforce immigration laws. The new strategy focuses on reducing the demand for illegal employment by targeting employers that knowingly hire illegal workers as well as the workers themselves. Last week, updated guidance […]

D.C. Circuit Court: NLRB Can’t Render Decisions with Only 2 Members

Although two other courts of appeals had previously decided otherwise, on May 1, the District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that a two-person National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) could not render decisions in NLRB cases. The case in question was an appeal of the NLRB’s finding that management at Laurel Baye, a nursing […]

Hot List: Bestselling “Organizational Behavior” books on Amazon.com

Amazon.com updates its list of the bestselling books every hour. Here is a snapshot of what is hot right now, this Monday morning, May 4, in the “Organizational Behavior” section of the “Business and Investing”category. 1. Don’t Bring It to Work: Breaking the Family Patterns That Limit Success by Sylvia Lafair.  Lafair explores what happens […]

Setting Up a Telecommuting Program and Managing Offsite Employees

Telecommuting has gained in popularity in the past few years as employers look for ways to keep their businesses going during natural disasters and to help employees have a better work-life balance and cope with high gas prices. Telecommuting also can be a benefit to keep good employees when there isn’t enough money for raises […]