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.
Sexual harassment case law is evolving rapidly. In the first lawsuit of its kind in California, a Court of Appeal recently decided that a male employee’s staring at a female co-worker could amount to gender-based harassment. We’ll tell you how the case came about.
Hector Escalante was a print machine operator at Wilson’s Art Studio Inc. in Orange County. One day without warning co-worker Ion Stanei allegedly attacked Escalante with a stick and hammer and threw a box of screws at him. As Escalante ran away, Stanei hurled another box of screws, hitting Escalante in the back. When Escalante […]
Three unskilled laborers who were hired to clean a film lab at Metrocolor Laboratories in Los Angeles sued, claiming Metrocolor told them to use a particular cleaning substance without revealing that it contained hazardous chemicals that can cause brain and nervous system damage. The workers’ skin became soaked with the liquid as it rained down […]
Karla Schikore, a Bank of America employee, resigned and requested a lump-sum payment of her retirement benefits. She swore that she’d mailed the bank a form electing to receive lump-sum benefits more than a year before, as required under the terms of the bank’s retirement plan. Unfortu-nately, the bank said it had never received the […]
President Bush has proposed a new package of emergency grants and unemployment assistance to help states deal with increased unemployment following the Sept. 11 attacks. Workers in states where the total unemployment rate has jumped by 30% above the Sept. 11 level would be eligible for an additional 13 weeks of unemployment benefits, which would […]
The federal government’s Thrift Savings Plan, a 401(k)-type program previously available only to federal civil service and postal workers, will now be open to uniformed members of the armed services while on active duty and to reservists while on military-pay status. A special enrollment period runs through Jan. 31. More information is available at the TSP […]
Gov. Davis has acted on a number of employment-related bills passed by state lawmakers. Roundup Of New Laws
Many employers don’t know that they can be hit with a lawsuit if a customer or vendor sexually harasses their employee and they don’t adequately remedy the problem. A new decision from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, which covers California, demonstrates the serious liability you can face if you mishandle these tricky situations.
How your workers’ compensation insurer manages your claims can have a big impact on your premiums. In a recent case, an employer whose premiums skyrocketed and dividends dropped for several years sued its insurer for overestimating the amounts needed to be held in reserve to pay claims—and won. This case underscores that keeping an eye […]
When you fire an employee for misconduct, even if it’s for an egregious incident that occurred in public, you still need to be careful who you talk to about it both inside and outside your company. The case of former Golden State Warriors basketball player Latrell Sprewell illustrates how an employer whose termination of an […]