Practical HR Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
Jeffery Akers was a patent examiner at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO). He sought a promotion but didn’t get it. Instead, a younger woman was given the position. Akers believed that his age and gender prevented him from getting the promotion, so he filed a discrimination charge with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission […]
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) recently announced a record-setting settlement resolving a class-action lawsuit against Sears, Roebuck and Co. under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) for $6.2 million and significant remedial relief. The consent decree, approved on September 29, represents the largest ADA settlement in a single lawsuit in EEOC history. The EEOC’s […]
by Connor Beatty Maine lobstermen, paralegals, and college football players may not initially strike you as the type of workers who would join a union. Yet, in the past year, each group has taken steps toward unionizing, highlighting the trend of the modern union with organized labor branching out into previously unimagined industries. Why would […]
When the answer to a skills shortage is bringing in workers from other lands, do it legally by choosing the right visa program. Here’s what you need to know. A few years ago, the rock band U2 wrote a song called “These Are the Hands that Built America.” It spoke of how, over history, our […]
In yesterday’s Advisor, attorney Wendy Warner explained how employers make things worse for themselves when lawsuits threaten. Today she shares ideas on how to make things better. Warner usually represents employees, but changed hats at a recent Society for Human Resources (SHRM) convention. Here are her simple steps employers can take “to keep lawyers like […]
Yesterday’s Advisor detailed job description horror stories. In today’s issue, another story, and an introduction to an extraordinary collection of job descriptions, written for you and ready to go. Unsupportable Requirements in the Job Description You don’t hire Susie for the shipping department job because the job description requires the ability to lift 80 pounds […]
by Karine Fournier and Valérie Gareau-Dalpé Union certification applications can have profound impacts on the workplace. The bargaining unit’s composition will have implications for the conduct of the employer’s business, and it bears close attention. The union applying for certification will be the one proposing the scope of the bargaining unit. Merely showing there is […]
An increasing number of employers are examining providing a low-benefits health plan that covers only preventive health services but not high-price major medical claims. Offering this type of low cost or “skinny” plan is allowed under the health reform law. The question is: Will skinny plans trigger a large-employer exodus to de minimis coverage, and if so, […]
New IRS guidance spells out more issues the agency plans to address in imposing the excise tax on high-cost employer-sponsored health coverage (commonly known as the Cadillac tax). These include: (1) identifying taxpayers who may be liable for the excise tax; (2) aggregating several employers under one plan sponsor’s payment; (3) allocating the tax among […]
The Supporting Military Families Act of 2009 was introduced in both houses of Congress in late July 2009. A mere three months later — on October 28 — it was signed into law as part of the defense funding bill for 2010. The legislation expands the circumstances in which employees may take both qualifying exigency […]