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Candidate’s COBRA Premium Kerfuffle Points Out Differing Employer Practices

Employers have different ways of administering COBRA continuation coverage, as evident in a recent news article about a local candidate’s problem when he was found to owe a city government money after it paid some of his COBRA premiums. The Post-Standard reported Oct. 27 how Timothy Lattimore (R), former mayor of Auburn, N.Y. , elected […]

Time for federal contractors to meet new paid leave requirements

by H. Juanita M. Beecher Contractors entering into federal contracts on or after January 1, 2017, must comply with the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) new regulations requiring them to provide workers 56 hours of paid sick leave a year. The regulations implement President Barack Obama’s Executive Order 13706, which was issued on September 7, […]

Jerks at Work—You Can Deal with Them

What do you do with jerks at work, especially when they claim protection as whistleblowers or as members of protected classes? There are steps you can take, says attorney Jathan Janove. In fact, you can discipline and ultimately, if necessary, terminate your jerks, says Janove, a partner in the Portland, Oregon, office of Ater Wynne […]

Know What Retaliation Is, So You Can Prevent It

Most employment laws include provisions protecting employees from vindictive managers who would otherwise punish them for exercising their rights. The Family and Medical Leave Act is no exception. Late last year, the Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division released Fact Sheet # 77B explaining the FMLA’s anti-retaliatory provisions. Here are some highlights: Prohibitions An […]

Same-Sex Marriages Legally Recognized: How Do Healthcare Benefits Change?

With the DOMA ban on same-sex marriage being ruled unconstitutional, what does this mean for healthcare benefits—will a same-sex marriage be recognized in the same way as other marriages, thus allowing the same-sex partner to receive spousal healthcare benefits paid for at the pre-tax rate? This is just one of the many questions employers are […]

Despite Senate passage, ENDA faces another hurdle

by Tammy Binford Although the U.S. Senate voted in favor of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) on November 7, final passage of the bill, which would prohibit employers from discriminating against employees and applicants based on their sexual orientation and gender identity,  faces an obstacle in the House. The Senate voted 64-32 to pass the […]

Working Out …at Work

By Kyle Emshwiller Looking for a way to keep workers engaged during work? Motivate them to fit in exercise during working hours. As we reported in last week’s column, sitting for a long period of time each day can lead to serious health effects. In addition to improving the health and wellness of employees, having […]

DoD to Begin Extending Employee Benefits to Same-sex Partners

Some employee benefits such as child care and transportation benefits are soon to be offered to the same-sex domestic partners of military members, U.S. Department of Defense recently announced. Outgoing Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta indicated in Feb. 11 memo that the move was a step toward conferring benefits to same-sex partners that currently are only […]

California getting tough law on gender wage gap

Employers in California will have to comply with what’s being called the strongest equal pay law in the nation when it takes effect on January 1, 2016. Governor Edmund G. Brown, Jr., signed the California Fair Pay Act, Senate Bill 358, on October 6. A statement from the governor’s office says current law prohibits employers […]