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Making the case to keep human resources

Making the Case for Keeping HR

In today’s world of corporate belt-tightening and budget cutbacks, you might find yourself wondering whether the expense of an HR staff is actually justified by the benefits. After all, HR doesn’t create revenue for the company — it doesn’t operate the machinery that produces the widgets, and it doesn’t drive sales. In fact, the perception […]

ACA: Expect Flex, Delay, and Some Hassle in 2013

Implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) involves a lot of moving parts, says Attorney Martin Simon. As the various pieces of the ACA come into play, we can expect some flexibility, some postponing of deadlines, and a delay of penalties, he adds. In fact, the delays have already started, says Simon, Senior Legal Editor […]

Hire Based on Data, Not “Gut”

On Fridays, California Employer Daily will often be given over to an “E-pinion” column by Jennifer Carsen, Esq., ERI’s Managing Editor. If you’ve got an idea for a 500-700 word column on any topic of interest to California employers, we’d love to have you as a guest columnist. Just describe your idea in a brief […]

Say what? Asking employees to take language classes

by Brad Cave Q: Will I be in violation of federal discrimination laws if I provide an “English as a second language” (ESL) employee English language training at the company’s expense? A Any possible discrimination charge under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 would be based on national origin. The Equal Employment […]

Accommodating Workers: Court Explains Responsibilities Of Employers And Disabled Employees To Work Together To Find New Job

Under changes to the state disability discrimination law that took effect January 1, you can be sued for failing to cooperate with a disabled employee to determine whether they need a reasonable accommodation and to explore available options. A new California Court of Appeal decision provides more detail on how you and the disabled employee […]

Bulletin: NIOSH Produces Free Workplace Violence DVD for Employers

The National Institute for Ocupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has produced a new training tool about preventing workplace violence. “Violence on the Job” is a 27-minute video (in two separate programs) that discusses practical measures for identifying risk factors for violence at work, and it offers recommendations and resources to help keep workers safe. The […]

Retirement Plans with Auto-enrollment Found to Be Lowering Employer Matches

If your retirement plan committee is satisfied with the automatic enrollment policy in place but has expressed concerns about the rising cost of the employer match that a growing participant base can bring, new research may provide a window into how other employer plan sponsors are handling this dilemma.   Automatically enrolling employees in company retirement […]

ACA Transitional Relief: What Employers Ought to Know

Leading employee benefits attorneys recently discussed rules on calculating workforces and identifying to whom the employer must make an offer of coverage. Vanessa Scott, a partner with Sutherland Asbill & Brennan, Washington, D.C., and Malcolm Slee, of Counsel at the Groom Law Group, Washington, D.C.,discussed the counting and measuring rules spawned by health care reform during […]

Workplace Safety: Suspect Arrested For Impersonating Cal/OSHA Inspector

A sting operation resulted in the arrest of a paroled felon for impersonating a Cal/OSHA inspector and victimizing employers in the Los Angeles County area. Mark Dwayne Jackson allegedly threatened to impose severe fines for non-existent safety violations unless the business owners agreed to a cash settlement. The suspect was arrested after accepting marked money […]

Survey Identifies Four Factors that Control Healthcare Cost Increases

A recent survey of 585 businesses identified major growth in companies offering high deductible healthcare plans, and noted four ways to restrain cost increases. Once upon a time, if you worked for a good company and you got sick, you went to any doctor, hospital, or pharmacy and handed them your health plan card. That […]