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According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the first observance of Labor Day is believed to have been a parade of 10,000 workers on September 5, 1882, in New York City, organized by Peter J. McGuire, a Carpenters and Joiners Union secretary. By 1893, more than half the states were observing a “Labor Day” on one […]
This content was originally published in January 2010. For the latest FMLA regulation changes, visit our FMLA article archives or try our practical FMLA compliance guide. Barbara Dahlen, Human Resources manager for Bellefontaine Habilitation Center in St. Louis, Missouri, knows a few things about preventing intermittent leave abuse. As a speaker at a recent seminar […]
Large corporations thinking about transferring hefty defined benefit plan payouts to insurance companies for them to manage now have judicial support for that approach. A federal judge in Texas has denied a bid by retired Verizon Communications executives to block the company from making a proposed shift off its books of $7.5 billion in pension […]
California employers have long faced complex discrimination issues because of the state’s diverse population. And now a recently enacted state law imposes new restrictions on employers’ ability to set workplace language rules. Language Restrictions Must Be Justified Under the new measure, A.B. 800, it’s illegal to adopt or enforce a policy that limits or prohibits […]
Shareholders are voicing their disapproval over excessive executive pay. HR managers need to know the public’s “breaking point” for each pay element, says consultant Kurt Fichthorn. Fichthorn, who is vice president in the Philadelphia office of the Hay Group, offers the following chart to clarify what employers want and how it compares to what the […]
On June 5, 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a decision in Ames v. Ohio Department of Youth Services, which, given the subject matter of the case, impacts employers nationwide. The Ames decision confirmed that all Title VII plaintiffs alleging employment discrimination – regardless of whether they belong to a majority or minority group – […]
By HR Consultant and Sports Executive Skip Weisman As baseball season starts, our guest columnist explains how lessons learned by sports teams can help business organizations. He knows because he’s led both. With dreams of a World Series championship dancing in their heads, 30 major league teams have just begun the 2007 major league baseball […]
After much back and forth, the EEOC just last week issued regulations letting companies offer lower health benefits to those age 65 and over than they do to those younger. Here’s the report on this important development, first published on our subscription website, HR.BLR.com. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has published a final […]
Cell phones, BlackBerry®, PDAs, iPod® devices, personal laptops, and flash memory sticks—they’re in your workplace, perhaps by the dozens, but are they posing more dangers than you know? Our experts sort it out. Especially now that gift-giving season has come and gone, you are probably seeing them in your workplace … gadgets! Everything from iPods […]