Practical HR Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
by Lauren E.M. Russell The U.S. Supreme Court’s 2013 decision in United States v. Windsor created a lot of uncertainty in federal employment benefits. Because the federal government’s definition of marriage as a union between one man and one woman was deemed unconstitutional, the decision left unanswered the question of when same-sex spouses were eligible […]
By Adria B. Martinelli and Lauren E. Moak The new law allowing same-sex civil unions in Delaware and recognizing civil unions performed in other states goes into effect January 1, 2012 after being passed last spring. The law also changes all sections of the Delaware Code that mention marriage by requiring that the word “marriage” […]
Over the past 20 years, employers have increased and decreased benefits strategically in response to the needs of the workplace and employees as well as to economic and technological changes, according to the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) 2016 Employee Benefits Survey report.
By Ralph Nero and Keri Bennett Historically, the character of employment or level of position has been an important factor in determining appropriate severance payments in Canada. Unskilled or lower-level employees have typically been entitled to less severance than more highly skilled and higher-level employees. Some decisions have capped severance for such lower-level positions at […]
by Dara Wanzer Complicated legal and moral issues may occur when an employee who has taken medical leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) for alcohol-related health issues returns to employment. The Tenth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals recently considered some of those issues and found that under certain circumstances, alcoholism can be […]
By Lorene Novakowski In two recent cases out of British Columbia, employers were found to be entitled to collect GPS information from service vehicles and from mobile phones issued to employees. Employees had complained that the collection of the GPS information was contrary to the BC Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA). The complaints were considered […]
By Kyle Emshwiller Airline personnel aren’t the only ones getting in trouble for being distracted on the job. A passenger recently caught a Metro-North engineer on camera reading the paper while operating the train, looking up occasionally to check the tracks. The passenger then posted the video to YouTube. The engineer was reportedly the only […]
by Ryan B. Frazier A new law passed by the Utah Legislature and signed by Governor Gary Herbert places new restrictions on noncompetition agreements signed after May 10. All requirements imposed under common law not specifically changed by the new law are still applicable, meaning that noncompetition agreements must protect a legitimate business interest of […]
Sponsored by the American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE) and the Canadian Society of Safety Engineering (CSSE), NAOSH Week activities are designed to promote the importance of safety and health on the job throughout North America and with worldwide partners. First, you can share with workers these statistics about why safety training matters: Every […]
In yesterday’s Advisor, attorneys Chad Richter and Cynthia Sandoval discussed discipline for blogging. Today, they weigh in on hiring decisions based on social media information, plus we introduce a very useful collection of job descriptions. One of the most controversial questions in HR today is whether to rely on social media sites for information on […]