Practical HR Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
Last year, a computer hacker broke into the Rancho Cordova-based Stephen P. Teale Data Center, a California personnel database. The hacker gained access to the names, Social Security numbers, and payroll information of over 200,000 state government employees. Unfortunately, this wasn’t an isolated occurrence—identity theft incidents are making the headlines almost daily.
Get ready now for an aggressive NLRB; meanwhile, get your ADA house in order, say panelists at BLR’s Advanced Employment Issues Symposium (AEIS). Good news? It’s not too late to act.
In a new ruling, the California Supreme Court has affirmed employers are automatically liable for sexual harassment committed by supervisors, but damages for an employee who doesn’t take reasonable steps to avoid or report supervisor harassment can be reduced. We’ll examine the new case and suggest smart employment practices that can help you limit damages—and […]
It’s important to be sure you properly classify jobs as exempt if you’re asserting an exemption to the overtime pay requirements of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). That message was reinforced by a recent decision of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals (which includes California) in which the court concluded that state social […]
Companies large and small are getting hit with FLSA-related judgments and settlements. On April 4, Attorney Nancy M. Cooper will tell you how you can keep this from happening to you. Few laws have caused American employers as much consternation as the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA.) Passed in 1938 as a simple measure to […]
A quick update on the case involving the state of Vermont’s demand for claims data from Liberty Mutual’s group health plan — the state agreed to drop its immediate demand for this information, pending the ultimate outcome of the lawsuit. The state’s health and insurance agency had issued a subpoena for this data, and Liberty […]
The Obama administration proposed another extension of COBRA premium subsidy benefits on Monday, according to Business Insurance. President Barack Obama included this latest extension in his proposed federal budget for the fiscal year 2011. The proposed extension would reportedly extend the 65 percent premium subsidy to individuals whose employment is terminated between March 1, 2010, […]
Governor Wilson recently approved a measure changing the little-known but important statute that allows employees to take unpaid time off to participate in their children’s school activities. The law continues to apply to private, state and municipal em- ployers who have 25 or more employees working in the same location. Our HR Management & Compliance […]
The IRS recently issued Notice 2007-100, which gives employers an opportunity to correct unintentional operational mistakes concerning nonqualified deferred compensation plans. Internal Revenue Code Section 409A, which covers these plans, specifies the manner in which they must be reported to avoid premature taxation. The notice gives employers the opportunity to self-correct unintentional operational errors—the failure […]
As part of the new stimulus package, many workers will be seeing a little extra cash in their paychecks beginning this month—in the form of a reduced federal income tax withholding called the Making Work Pay Tax Credit. For employers, this means that payroll calculations need to be adjusted to ensure that the lowered withholding […]