Practical HR Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
The United States Supreme Court has agreed to decide an important employee privacy case—City of Ontario v. Quon—that is likely to have far-reaching implications for public and private employers alike.
Compliance with the contraceptive coverage mandate under health reform is stayed until Aug. 1, 2013 for employers that fit into a slightly expanded enforcement safe harbor described by the Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight (CCIIO) in an Aug. 15 memo. Reform’s preventive care mandate requires plans and insurers to cover a host of […]
With few exceptions, USERRA and related—and even more aggressive—state laws guarantee benefits and reemployment of employees on military leave. We started our briefing yesterday. Here’s the rest of it, and a reference that really explains it. Yesterday’s Daily Advisor laid out the broad requirements of the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA.) We […]
A federal judge has ordered Southern California Maid Services and Carpet Cleaning, based in Gardena, to pay $3,467,789 in back wages, plus $1,058,973 in liquidated damages, to 385 current and former low-wage domestic workers who were misclassified as independent contractors. The court’s action resolves a lawsuit filed against the employer by the U.S. Department of […]
We reported in April on a federal court decision from Kentucky involving IBM which held that under federal law, if you’re seriously considering changes to a retirement benefit plan, you must tell your employees. Now, in a pair of new cases, the federal Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal has reached the same conclusion, explaining that […]
Can’t join your workplace wellness activities due to a health condition? Sure you can, using the government’s accessibility rules for wellness programs. Here’s a primer. In yesterday’s Advisor, we looked at “benign discrimination” and “multiple plan” rules for wellness programs. Today, we look at the “reasonableness” test and the “alternative standard” requirement, and introduce a […]
A new California Court of Appeals decision makes employers more vulnerable to big payouts when terminating a longtime employee who has stacked up unused vacation time over the years. We’ll examine the case and give you policy tips that can help you limit the amount of accrued vacation time you may need to pay for […]
In recent years some employers have seen a connection between domestic violence and the workplace. After all, where the victim works is the one place the abuser can find her on a regular schedule. And, if a violent confrontation does occur at work, coworkers may be endangered as well. There are other, more subtle negative […]
by Tammy Binford Consider the modern workforce: The up-and-coming Gen Y Millennials sit alongside Gen Xers, baby boomers, and even a few 70-and-older workers who’ve decided to delay retirement or skip it altogether. Researchers tout an era when four distinct groups inhabit the workplace—those born in 1945 and before, the boomers born from 1946-1964, Generation […]
Now that the state budget stalemate has finally ended, Governor Schwarzenegger has gotten back to the work of signing bills sent to him by the legislature, and his last day to do so was September 30. One of the first bills penned into law expands the existing ban on driving while using a cell phone […]