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.
When the family leave laws were enacted, the issue of how much notice your employees must give before taking a leave seemed relatively simple. But it hasn’t turned out that way. Say, for example, your employee wants to change the dates of her family leave after you already made arrangements based on her earlier notice. […]
Figuring out who’s exempt from the overtime rules and who isn’t can be very complicated. Impressive titles and salaries don’t count. Only the employee’s actual job duties matter. And of the four main exemptions-managerial, administrative, professional and sales-the administrative exemption is the least clear-cut. In fact, employers continue to reel from an epidemic of multi-million […]
Whenever someone with a disability applies for a job, you must consider whether a reasonable accommodation would permit the person to do the work. Unfortunately, it’s not always easy to know when you’ve done enough and when you should do more. And while going the extra mile to accommodate a disabled applicant can benefit everyone, […]
Last month’s Bulletin mentioned that the Immigration and Naturalization Service had asked Congress for an additional year to comply with its mandate to modify the I-9 form. The INS has just been given a six-month extension. Although the INS has announced some interim rule changes, you can continue to use the current I-9 form. We’ll […]
In two recent cases, employers are facing lawsuits based on inappropriate comments the complaining employee never heard or saw. In the first case, a Mexican-American applicant rejected for a position at State Farm Insurance got the green light to sue because the hiring manager later allegedly referred to another employee as a “dumb Mexican.” Although […]
Competitors luring away workers is an increasing concern these days. In a recent case, Jeff Sposito, a managing broker with Jon Douglas Co. in Walnut Creek, quit less than a week after Coldwell Banker acquired his company. He immediately joined a rival and, allegedly within a day, persuaded more than 100 agents and office staff […]
Employers with 20 or more employees who provide health benefits must notify terminated workers of their continuation rights under COBRA. But a new federal appeals court ruling has confirmed you’re required to separately notify the employee and the worker’s spouse of their COBRA rights.7 To protect yourself, Ina Potter, a partner with the San Francisco […]
A psychiatrist suffering from attention deficit disorder has won $902,000 after suing his employer under state anti-discrimination laws for failing to accommodate his own psychological problems. Stanley Swenson Jr. worked at Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center for 15 years. He claimed his condition made it difficult for him to keep up with patient charts and […]
You may be shopping around for new workers’ compensation or other business insurance because your current insurer has decided not to renew your policy, or it wants to make significant changes in your coverage.
Governor Wilson has just signed a new law which will provide employees of small organizations access to COBRA-type continuation health care benefits. The new rules take effect January 1, 1998.