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A Busy Year for the California Legislature; And Now Employers Must Come Up to Speed

California lawmakers stayed busy throughout the year, passing a number of new wage, hour, leave and anti-discrimination laws.  Here, in no particular order, are some of the biggies that go into effect Jan. 1: Pregnancy Disability Leave All employers with five or more employees will be required, starting Jan. 1, to continue to maintain and […]

South Carolina Court Says “No” To NLRB Posting Rule

By Richard J. Morgan For over 75 years, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) was one of a very few federal labor agencies that didn’t require employers to post a general notice of employee rights in the workplace. Yet, on December 22, 2010, the NLRB decided it would change its 75-year history. On that date, […]

New Employment Laws and Regulations Going into Effect

While the world has been focused on the U.S. and global economic meltdown, a historic presidential election, and staggering unemployment numbers, some pretty significant changes have been made in federal employment laws and regulations with most going into effect in just a few weeks. A recent issue of HR Hero Line includes a roundup of […]

Privacy: Can We Read Employees’ E-mails?

  What right do employers have to access personal e-mail records or personal e-mail accounts that are on company-owned computers? — Robert, HR Manager in L.A.     Technology-related privacy concerns are on the rise for nearly every HR professional. We sought Trey Wichmann’s views on this question. In this situation, the employer’s rights depend […]

IRS Eases Rules for 401(k) Hardship Withdrawals, Loans Tied to Hurricane Sandy

Plan sponsors in areas Hurricane Sandy affected may want to prepare for an increase in loan or hardship withdrawal requests after the IRS on Nov. 16 said it temporarily will relax its rules that apply to such emergency funding for retirement plan participants.  The IRS announced the relief in Announcement 2012-44. Hurricane Sandy should be […]

Clear offer of employment needed to argue mitigation

By Katherine Pollock Want to change a Canadian employee’s terms or conditions of employment? It’s not as easy as it once was. Depending on the nature of the change, it may amount to constructive dismissal. If it does amount to constructive dismissal, simply providing notice of the change may not be sufficient—as the Court of […]

Turnover Focus Brings Bottom Line improvement

To tame turnover, says consultant Karl Ahlrichs, SPHR. Focus on the employees you really want to keep. You’ll have a much better shot at improving the bottom line. And going one step further—if we can do a good job of managing turnover among top producers, we’ll improve other key metrics like retention of customers, says […]

Changing FMLA Policy? Could Be ‘Worst Mistake’

By BLR Founder and CEO Bob Brady You’ve been diligently following the sweeping—and confusing—changes to the federal Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). You’ve even instituted changes to your policies to make sure you’re in compliance. It could be the worst mistake you’ve made all year, says Attorney […]