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Alternative Employee Assessment Methods

In a previous post, we discussed some of the challenges inherent in traditional methods of employee assessment, specifically the fact that review of résumés and in-person interviews tend to focus too much on the objective skills of the employee rather than the subjective needs of the organization.

A Light At The End Of The Tunnel

Finally, the strike is officially over. And, according to the New York Times, new episodes of “The Office” will start airing on April 10, 2008. Thank God! In the meantime, there are plenty of real life cases with facts so bizarre that they rival the plots dreamed up by Hollywood writers. To get us started, […]

ACA’s Automatic Enrollment Provision Repealed

One of the Affordable Care Act’s many (many) provisions required employers with 200 or more employees to automatically enroll employees into the employer’s lowest-cost healthcare plan if employees failed to either select a plan or opt out of coverage. That provision had not yet gone into effect, however, as enforcement was on hold pending the […]

Retaliation: Court Green-Lights Lawsuit by Employee Fired for Complaining that Co-Worker Was Harassed; Avoiding Retaliation Claims

Freddy Hernandez, a lead technician for Spacelabs Medical Inc. in Chatsworth and then in Redmond, Wash., was abruptly terminated after 20 years on the job—just weeks after he reported that a supervisor harassed a co-worker. We’ll explain why the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, which covers California, said Hernandez can sue Spacelabs for retaliation.

Handling Work Refusals

McCarthy Tetrault Your employees in Canada have the right to refuse tasks that may endanger them or others. Health and safety laws spell out not only your obligations but also what your employees must do when refusing work, so it’s important for you to understand how to handle such situations. Here are some tips to […]

Are Forces of Secrecy Blocking Path to Health Cost Control?

Health reform has passed and it was supposed to change the world. But it has yet to take effective action on the biggest problem — the upward spiral of health costs! Raise your hand if you think there is a connection between insurers’ and providers’ lack of transparency on premiums and fees, and that upward […]

Mexican Worker Warned to “Speak American” Gets Trial

Marcial Avila worked for Jostens, Inc., a yearbook publisher, in its Topeka, Kansas, facility from 1995 until September 2003. His duties included counting yearbooks, packing them into boxes, and printing and affixing shipping labels. He is a legal resident of the United States but was born in Mexico and spoke Spanish as his primary language. […]

September 23: The First Step on Road to Health Care Reform Compliance

By Tamara S. Killion Groom Law Group, Chartered On March 23, 2010, President Barack Obama signed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act into law. Among other things, the Act dramatically changes health insurance coverage, including employer-provided health insurance and employer-sponsored group health plans (together, “group health plans”). The law is complex and has many […]

Employee Testing: Meeting ADA Requirements While Keeping Employees Safe

Did you know that some employers may be violating ADA requirements when performing safety tests for OSHA? This may include testing employees to ensure that they can perform certain physical functions of the job. This may also include taking adverse actions only against employees who have a disability. Employers need to be careful. “Some employers […]