Practical HR Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
There are dozens of details to take care of in the day-to-day operation of your department and your company. We give you case studies, news updates, best practices and training tips that keep your organization fully in compliance with ever-changing employment law, and you fully aware of emerging HR trends.
The new law provides a short-term replacement for the current 30-year Treasury bond rate, which is currently used as the benchmark rate for pension funding liabilities. Some employers, unions, and workers expressed concerns about using the Treasury bond rate because it artificially inflates a plan’s funding liabilities. Congress enacted a temporary fix in March 2002 […]
Under the FASB’s proposal, all forms of share-based payments to employees, including stock options, would have to be reported as expenses on corporate financial statements. Current rules require that the fair value of stock options be disclosed only in financial statement footnotes. For more information, go to the FASB website.
Courts have long acknowledged the validity of reverse discrimination cases when gender or race is concerned. But the validity of a reverse age bias claim has been less clear. In particular, could a worker in the over-40 protected class bring an age discrimination lawsuit if an older employee was favored at work? According to a […]
In a decision that could be enormously costly for some California public employers, the state’s high court has ruled that long-term temps hired by the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MWD) through private temporary agencies may be eligible for full CalPERS retirement benefits. This opinion highlights the need for employers to be on high […]
Appliance installer Morton Wong injured his elbow while employed at Crown Appliance in Modesto. Wong claimed he always had a good working relationship with Crown’s owner, Mary Sanchez, but that things went downhill when he returned to work following the injury. Eventually, the Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board (WCAB) found that Crown illegally discriminated against Wong […]
Employers who turn to temporary agencies to supply workers often mistakenly assume they aren’t responsible for harassment or bias problems because the agency is the workers’ employer. But a new case underscores that both you and the temp agency can be held liable for discrimination involving a temp.
Years ago, the California Supreme Court opened the door for workers to bring high-stakes lawsuits claiming employers induced them to take jobs based on false promises about the position or the company’s health. Since then, employees have filed a steady stream of claims alleging employer fraud in the hiring process—and many have won multimillion-dollar verdicts. […]
Restaurant Runners Inc., which contracts with restaurants to deliver prepared meals to customers’ homes, has shelled out $15,200 in civil penalties to settle Department of Labor (DOL) charges that the company violated child labor laws. The DOL said Restaurant Runner, which has offices in Santa Clarita and Bakersfield, allowed minors to work as delivery drivers, […]
Big Lots Inc. has signed off on a $10 million settlement of a lawsuit charging that more than 1,400 managers and assistant managers at the Ohio-based retailer’s California discount stores, including Pic ‘N’ Save and MacFrugals, were misclassified as exempt. The employees charged they spent the bulk of their time performing nonmanagerial tasks such as […]
San Diego police officer John Roe claimed his free speech rights were violated when he was fired for selling sexually explicit videos of himself on the Internet. The Ninth Circuit explained that a public employee’s speech is protected and cannot be abridged without good cause when it touches on a matter of “public concern” rather […]