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In 2010, there was a 10 percent increase from 2009 in wage and hour collective- and class-action cases under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). “Collective” and “class” actions are lawsuits with multiple plaintiffs filed by employees who perform substantially the same job. The number of wage and hour cases began to climb as a […]
If you’ve thought about firing employees for things they post to social media websites, a recent decision by a federal jury sends a clear message that you should think again.
Two indicators of U.S. corporate pension health topped 90-percent funding ratios for September, a significant sign of improvement in the vitality of defined benefit plans. Mercer’s S&P 1500 Indicator Rises Funding levels of DB plans sponsored by Standard & Poor’s 1500 companies monitored monthly by human resources consultant Mercer improved in the latest month, reaching […]
By the BLR Editors Just My E-pinion At long last, a response has come from the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) on its call for public comments on the FMLA. Too bad DOL is a day late and about 10 dollars short. First came the hope … that, after requesting public comments, the U.S. Department […]
Employers with the best of intentions can get tripped up by “stealth” violations of testing discrimination laws, says Fay Hansen, blogging on the Workforce Management website. Fay Hansen points out several situations in which employers get into trouble with their testing. Jobs change The first stealth problem is simply that jobs change. In today’s work […]
The Equal Opportunity Employment Commission (EEOC) has issued a new section in its compliance manual on religious discrimination in the workplace. The agency concluded that the sharp rise in the number of religious discrimination charges, the growing religious diversity in the United States, and requests for guidance from stakeholders warranted the new compliance manual section. […]
Among the add-ons to the $700 billion financial rescue package that Congress recently passed was a measure that will affect many employers whose health plans offer mental health benefits. The Paul Wellstone-Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 builds on and closes employer-friendly loopholes in the limited mental health parity measure […]
It may take bit of a leap to embrace metrics, but once you do, the benefits are almost immediate, says HRMetrics.org. And if you don’t provide management with metrics, watch out for your job. HRMetrics.org, an organization that helps organizations measure HR, offers two very pragmatic reasons that metrics make sense: 1. Measuring—just the act […]
Minimed Inc., based in Northridge, hired a pest control company to spray pesticide overnight to eliminate fleas at the office. When clerical employee Irma Hernandez arrived at work the next morning, she noticed a Raid-like smell—and within a few hours she had a headache, nausea, and tightness in her chest. Hernandez told her supervisors she […]