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Disability-Related Questions And Medical Exams, Part 1: EEOC Releases Guidance On When You Can Get Health Information From Employees

Five years ago, the EEOC issued rules explaining which medical exams you could require and what health questions you could ask job applicants without running afoul of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Now, newly released guidance from the EEOC helps clear up some of the uncertainty employers face when these types of issues come up […]

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 […]

Holiday Season (and Year-Round) Stress: How to Handle It

Today’s workforce operates under high pressure, especially at holiday season. Here are some tools to help them handle the load. Holiday season is one of the most joyous times of the year, but it’s also one of the most stressful. Gift buying fever is at its peak, and the malls are jammed. Even worse are […]

Reasonable Accommodation: New Ruling Expands Time Limits For Disabled Employees To Sue; Practical Impact

Under California anti-discrimination law, a disabled employee typically has only one year from the date of a firing, demotion or other wrongful employment action to file a lawsuit. But now the California Supreme Court has ruled that disabled workers may be able to sue for discrimination incidents that occurred many years earlier. We’ll tell you […]

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 […]

Attorney Offers Tips for Staying Compliant with DOL’s Wage and Hour Priorities

As the Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division steps up enforcement initiatives,  the need for employers to monitor their wage and hour practices is growing. Speaking at the Society for Human Resource Management’s 2012 Employment Law and Legislative Conference March 5, Tammy McCutchen of Littler Mendelson in Washington, a former Bush appointee at DOL, […]

Employers Can Restrict Union Use of Company E-mail

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has ruled that employers can prohibit employees from using company e-mail to send union-related messages while allowing some personal use of e-mail. In a 3-2 decision dated December 16 but released December 21, the NLRB majority ruled that the e-mail policy of Eugene, Oregon, newspaper The Register-Guard wasn’t a […]

Sexual Harassment Backlash: Big Verdict For Executive Fired Over Harassment Charge

Lawrence Moreau was chief financial officer for Los Angeles-based Direct Express, which was later acquired by Paystation America. Less than three months after starting work, Moreau was fired for allegedly touching two female employees inappropriately. He sued, claiming the charge was unfounded and a company pretext to break his three-year employment contract. Now a Los […]

Recordkeeping: How long to hold on?

Litigation is the ultimate test of the adequacy of an employer’s recordkeeping practices, says attorney Allen Kato of the San Francisco office of Fenwick and West LLP. Of course, the courtroom isn’t the ideal place to discover that records are inadequate, incomplete, or nonexistent.