Practical HR Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
By Kate McGovern Tornone, Editor An employer will pay $55,000 for failing to accommodate a pregnant employee’s lifting restrictions, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has announced.
In yesterday’s CED, attorneys Veronica Gray & E. George Joseph warned of the coming crackdown on misclassification of independent contractors. Today, classification factors considered by government agencies and the courts, as well as an introduction to a can’t-miss webinar next week. Misclassification is high on the DOL and IRS agendas, so it’s a good place […]
Over the past several years, many employers have been blindsided by big class action lawsuits from employees who say they were misclassified as exempt from overtime and are owed millions in back pay. Farmers Insurance Exchange, Big Lots, and Electronics Boutique are just a few of the businesses hit by the suits. For a brief […]
Let’s get down to brass tacks: Pay is the reason people go to work.
by Susan M. Webman and Burton F. Fishman Fortney & Scott, LLC Last week, we looked at the similarities and differences between traditional Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) leave and the new qualifying exigency military FMLA leave. This week we look at military caregiver leave. The rules for employer coverage (employing 50 employees within […]
As we have reported before (January 6, 2009, December 2, 2008, and August 26, 2008), Wal-Mart has repeatedly been dealt blows by Canadian courts and other decision-makers. Most recently, an arbitrator in Quebec has weighed in – and it’s more bad news for Wal-Mart in Canada. Wal-Mart’s store in Jonquiere, Quebec, was certified by the […]
Financial wellness incentives of up to 30 percent of coverage costs would be allowed under the Americans with Disabilities Act, based on rules proposed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. This long-awaited guidance generally defers to HIPAA’s nondiscrimination rules, as amended by health care reform, in determining whether a wellness program is permitted by […]
by Katherine Pollock Recently, we learned of a scandal out of the United States that cost a top CEO his job. On August 6, Mark Hurd, the chair, CEO, and president of Hewlett Packard for the past five years, “resigned” under intense pressure from the board. While it was an allegation of sexual harassment that […]
by Tara McPhail McCarthy Tetrault Canadian human rights laws require employers to accommodate employees and customers with disabilities up to a point. What point? The point at which the accommodation would constitute “undue hardship” on the employer. But what makes an undue hardship? A recent Supreme Court of Canada decision appears to set a high […]
Storing records electronically means knowing a whole new set of skills and rules. There are the practical (“If I e-file a document, can I throw the signed paper copy away?”) and the legal (including some new rules from no less than the U.S. Supreme Court.) Just how do you get it all right in a […]