Category: Uncategorized

Oops! One way or another these articles never got properly categorized.

Employment Law Tip: How to Avoid Common Retirement Plan Missteps

It’s no secret that retirement and pension plans have come under increased scrutiny in recent years, amidst allegations that benefits are often miscalculated and underpaid. Here’s a checklist to help you avoid some of the most common plan mistakes:   Check your plan documents to determine the types of covered compensation. Be sure all relevant […]

EEOC Weighs in on Reasonable Accommodations for Disabled Lawyers

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has issued a new fact sheet addressing reasonable accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) for attorneys with disabilities. The new publication is available on the agency’s website. According to the EEOC, one goal of the fact sheet is to dispel the myth that disabled lawyers who […]

Retirement Benefits: Auto 401(k) Enrollment Good for Employees, New Survey Shows

Employers that offer automatic enrollment for their 401(k) plans significantly increase employee participation, according to an annual study conducted by Hewitt Associates. The study, which examined the savings and investing habits of over 2.6 million employees, found that the overall participation rate of employees in companies offering automatic enrollment was 14 percent higher than the […]

No Requirement to Hold Position Open Indefinitely for Disabled Worker

According to a new California appeals court decision, holding a job open for a disabled employee who needs time to recuperate is a form of reasonable accommodation—where it appears likely the employee will be able to return to work at some time in the foreseeable future. But reasonable accommodation doesn’t require an employer to wait […]

Retirement Benefits: Many More Employers Offering 401(k) Plans Exclusively

According to an analysis by benefits consulting firm Watson Wyatt, the number of large employers that offer only defined contribution/401(k) plans—and not traditional pension plans—is way up. In 2005, 36 percent of Fortune 100 companies offered 401(k) plans only (not in combination with a traditional pension plan), up from 25 percent in 2004 and 17 […]

Drug and Alchohol: Can We Implement a Random Drug Testing Policy?

We think that drug use in our company might be growing, and management wants to institute a broad, random testing policy with a zero-tolerance standard. I believe that random testing might be a privacy violation in California. Is it advisable to have a random testing policy, and if not, what do you recommend for curbing […]

You’re the Expert: Do you think exit interviews are helpful?

Do you think exit interviews are helpful? We just had a case in which an ex-employee, during the exit interview, accused a manager of discrimination. The manager blew it off, saying, “Oh, she’s just a disgruntled employee who’s letting off steam on her way out,” and nothing came of it. I don’t know whether it’s […]

Compensation: Can We Insist on Salary Confidentiality?

As a result of an upcoming merger, we are going to have a lot of situations in which there is a disparity in salaries. We have a plan for addressing that over a period of three years, but in the meantime, I would like to institute a policy that prohibits employees from discussing their salaries […]

Reasonable Accomodation: Our Employee Can’t Work in the Cold; What Do We Do?

We are a cold storage facility and recently received a doctor note for one of our employees indicating that the employee must not work in the freezer area. Our facility is divided into different temperature areas but is always at a cold temperature. What do I do moving forward with this employee? Her job requires […]

DOL Nixes Salary Deductions When Exempt Worker Damages Equipment

If an exempt employee damages or loses company-issued equipment, and you decide to dock the person’s salary to pay for the loss, you risk the employee’s exempt status. That’s the conclusion of a new opinion letter from the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL). The opinion was requested by an employer that issues cell phones and […]