Practical HR Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
An undocumented employee who was injured on the job has had her request for rehabilitation benefits thrown out by the California Court of Appeal. Margalese Ortega-Ruiz injured her back while working at a Jack-in-the-Box restaurant in Santa Monica. After she filed a workers’ comp claim and requested vocational rehabilitation benefits, the restaurant discovered she wasn’t […]
An employee takes pregnancy-related medical leave. While she’s out, you discover that she falsified certain time sheets and billing records. On the day she’s set to return from leave, you instead tell her that she’s being terminated. The employee sues for pregnancy discrimination. Should you be worried? You should think long and hard before terminating […]
February 7 marks the end of the public comment period on the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs’ (OFCCP) proposed rule that would set a goal for federal contractors to have seven percent of their workforce be made up of people with disabilities. With the calendar nearing the comment deadline, it’s time for employers with […]
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) celebrated the 75th anniversary of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), which created the Board. Commenting on the stalled so-called Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA), Chairman Wilma Liebman noted that congressional inaction on the EFCA may contribute to the “flip-flopping” with which the Board has been accused. She also […]
Want the best of the best to flood your department with their résumés as they do at Yahoo! and Southwest Airlines? Develop your talent brand, says Libby Sartain, who was CHRO at both companies. Brand for Talent, Sartain’s new book co-written with consultant Mark Schumann, offers seven "essentials" for building your talent brand. (See […]
As I write this, I’m sitting in a hotel room in Las Vegas. I must admit that I’m not a big fan of Las Vegas. It’s nothing against the city, it’s just that I typically spend less than 72 hours in Las Vegas at any one time and never get outside the hotel. So all […]
Pregnant employees typically present a host of Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) issues, and then, for many employers, there’s the very tricky balancing act of fetal protection—what to do when the mother wants to work in a job that might endanger the unborn child. FMLA Protection for Pregnant Employees Under FMLA, incapacity because of […]
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division has unveiled a free, new Web-based tool to help employers and employees calculate overtime pay under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The tool provides examples of how FLSA overtime should be completed under some scenarios. The Overtime Calculator advisor computes overtime pay due in […]
Note: This very interesting post is by attorney Allison West, principal of Employment Practices Specialists, in Pacifica, Calif. Thank you, Allison for contributing this to our blog. See below for more about Allison, and a Thompson Interactive Webinar she will be giving on this topic. So, what is a religion, anyway? Not surprising, countless religions exist […]
by Robert P. Tinnin, Jr. Under the newly proposed overtime regulations for the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), the most significant changes are to the minimum salary threshold that must be met for an employee to qualify as exempt. It’s important to understand what types of compensation are included in determining whether “minimum threshold salary” […]