Practical HR Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) has reached an agreement with Alcoa Inc. to provide an additional $150 million in pension contributions to the company’s two largest pension plans, which cover more than 83,000 people.
Suppose an employee asks to take vacation time over the Christmas holiday to visit his ailing parents—but he doesn’t mention that he will be caring for them during the time off. Do you have to grant the request for time off under the family and medical leave laws? A California Court of Appeal recently answered […]
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has announced a 60-day delay in implementing the new Form I-9 for employment eligibility verification for new hires. The new I-9 forms were to take effect February 2, but a seemingly last-minute decision was made on January 30 to delay implementation of the I-9 forms and their accompanying […]
The Department of Labor recently issued final changes to the white-collar overtime exemption rules under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The new regulations take effect Aug. 23, 2004.
The U.S. Department of Labor will finalize new Section 503 regulations Sept. 24, according to the Office of the Federal Register. The rules create several new responsibilities for federal contractors and subcontractors, including a mandate that they aim to have workers with disabilities make up 7 percent of their workforces. If the rules are published […]
Retaliation claims are on the rise, and it’s no surprise, says attorney Joseph L. Beachboard. They’re relatively easy to establish and they often pay off even when the underlying charge is not sustained—but they’re also easy to prevent. What makes retaliation suits so easy to bring? asks Beachboard, who is a shareholder in the Los […]
The U.S. Department of Labor has announced that Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. will pay over $33 million in back wages to resolve errors in calculating overtime for 86,680 employees nationwide. According to the DOL, Wal-Mart brought the problem to the agency’s attention after an internal audit raised concerns regarding overtime computations, particularly with respect to incentives […]
In every issue, we take one reader’s question and ask our other readers to weigh in. Here’s what you had to say about a recent question:
I know that California law requires both parties’ consent to record or monitor phone calls. So if we intend to record or monitor incoming phone calls, we need to have a recording that says that the call may be monitored or recorded. However, what if we are calling out to a customer or client? At […]
By Lorraine Yeomans Recent actions by President Barack Obama’s administration and a flurry of new local laws are reviving discussion on the issue of gender identity (sometimes also referred to as gender expression) discrimination. Since 1993, when Minnesota adopted the first state law protecting against discrimination based on gender identity, employers have been doing their […]