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.
Stacey Detels, a claims representative for Farmers Insurance Exchange, took several weeks off of work after learning her toddler son’s caregiver may have been physically abusing him. Detels took her son to two health care providers to evaluate him, but the providers found no need for any treatment. Detels claimed that when she returned to […]
Darcy Jensen, a module team builder for Amgen Inc., filed a workers’ comp claim as a result of health problems that she believed stemmed from exposure to laboratory animals. Several months later, the company discovered mold in the building where Jensen had worked. Jensen eventually sued Amgen under an exception to the workers’ compensation system […]
Last month, the Industrial Welfare Commission rejected a labor-backed petition to increase the state minimum wage, currently at $6.75 per hour. The California Labor Federation reintroduced the petition for IWC consideration at a February 21, 2003 public meeting. But the IWC has once again rejected the petition.
Last year, Cal/OSHA implemented new injury and illness recording rules to be phased in over five years. The new rules updated the requirements for posting, retaining and reporting work-related injuries and illnesses. Many of the key changes are taking effect in 2003—including the injury and illness information that must be posted starting in February. We’ll […]
A new California Court of Appeal decision highlights just how crucial it is to carry out workplace misconduct investigations in good faith. We’ll explain what happened.
Responding to the onslaught of court rulings on work-related arbitration agreements, the American Arbitration Association (AAA) has modified its national rules for resolving employment disputes. According to the AAA, the changes are also intended to reflect the association’s commitment to fairness for employees. Note that these rules aren’t law, but most arbitration agreements include provisions […]
Employers take many steps to try to prevent the loss of trade secrets. You ask employees to sign nondisclosure agreements, implement security systems and train your workforce on how to keep information confidential. Despite your best efforts, a breach sometimes occurs and your trade secrets end up in a competitor’s hands. In a new case, […]
Most employers know they can get slapped with retaliation claims for firing workers who have recently complained about harassment or other workplace wrongdoing. But a new case from the federal appeals court that covers California calls attention to a little-discussed retaliation law that employers should be aware of.
In connection with affirmative action regulations that were revised in 2000, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs annually sends out what’s known as an EO survey to randomly selected federal contractors. The mandatory survey—which has stirred much controversy among federal contractors who claim that it’s burdensome—asks contractors to submit a […]
Renae Kohler filed a workers’ comp claim and a harassment lawsuit against her employer, Interstate Brands, based on alleged physical and verbal harassment by her supervisor. Kohler later signed a workers’ comp compromise and release agreement for a $4,000 settlement, which released the employer from “all claims and causes of action” arising from the injury. […]