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Salary Basis: No Joyride for Motorcycle Shop Employee Who Sued Over Two Short Paychecks, But Watch Your Pay Practices
Special from 2011 SHRM Conference: Employees “Too Scared” to Ask for Flextime Says Virgin Group Founder
Sir Richard Branson, founder and owner of the British branded Virgin Group, doesn’t think much of American flextime policies. He calls the amount of holidays “horrendous,” while the stingy vacation time bars employees from spending the quality time with their families and children that they need to reenergize. Sir Richard’s comments came at the 2011 […]
DOL Issues COBRA Model Notices
Update Dec. 16: House Passes COBRA Subsidy Extension and Expansion Today, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued model COBRA continuation coverage notices that reflect the new nine-month, 65 percent subsidy on COBRA premiums. The notices are available online at www.dol.gov/ebsa/COBRAmodelnotice.html. There are four types of notices, each tailored to a particular employee, beneficiary, or […]
California Ranks Low Among Employee-Friendly States
The Golden State is often criticized as being unfriendly to businesses, so it’s reasonable to assume that the state would qualify as employee-friendly. But researchers at the Political Economy Research Institute at the University of Massachusetts have come to a surprising conclusion: California ranks in the bottom half of the 50 states in terms of worker-friendliness.
U.S. Supreme Court Punts on ACA Contraceptive Mandate Case
By BLR Legal Editor Jennifer Carsen, JD For the past several months, court-watchers have been waiting for the Supremes to resolve a split among the circuits on the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA’s) contraceptive mandate. Today, the court released its long-awaited opinion—without ruling on the merits of the case.
News Notes: Telephone Company Will Pay $25 Million To Settle Pregnancy Discrimination Claims
Pacific Bell has agreed to pay $25 million to settle charges that it didn’t credit pregnancy leave toward an employee’s service when calculating retirement benefits. As many as 10,000 women who took leave before 1979, when Congress passed the federal law banning pregnancy discrimination, may share in the settlement. The class action suit was filed […]
News Flash: Albertson’s To Pay Multimillion Dollar Settlement To Employees Who Weren’t Paid For “Off-The-Clock” Work
Albertson’s grocery chain recently settled eight class-action lawsuits filed by workers who allege the company didn’t pay them for work performed at the end of their shifts or on their days off. The employees claim they feared being fired if they reported the off-the-clock work. Albertson’s has denied wrongdoing, but agreed to take a $37 […]
Personnel Records: New Law Extends And Clarifies Employees’ Right To Inspect Their Personnel Files: Who Can See What—And When
Employees in private industry have long been entitled to look at their personnel records. Now the governor has signed a new law that extends this right to many public employees and clarifies the inspection rules for workers in both the public and private sectors.
Employer Groups Fighting Back Against NLRB
Recent actions taken by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) have sparked enough anger among employers to prompt a lawsuit, an ad campaign, and support for a bill in Congress that’s seen as a way to curb what one employer group calls a “rogue agency.” The National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) filed a lawsuit on […]