Practical HR Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
It’s hard to believe that the “wedding crashers” would be allowed to crash into the citadel of Internet security and secrecy, that house of learned geeks—the Google campus! A new movie, “The Internship,” starring Will Farrell, Vince Vaughn, and Owen Wilson, was rumored to be filming in Silicon Valley. And yes, these 40-ish guys are […]
In a recent decision, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has given six former PacBell employees the green light to sue on charges that the company induced them to accept an early retirement package by not disclosing that it was considering offering a better severance program. The court rejected PacBell’s claim that it had no […]
The following is a list of the bestselling hardcover business books as ranked by the New York Times on December 17. 1. The World Is Flat, by Thomas L. Friedman. (Picador, $16.) A columnist for the New York Times analyzes 21st-century economics and foreign policy and presents an overview of globalization trends. 2. The Tipping […]
President Bush has just signed legislation to extend unemployment insurance benefits for laid-off workers. The measure will extend benefits by 13 weeks for the estimated 1.6 million workers whose normal state UI benefits are due to expire in May 2003. Plus, it will restore benefits to the approximately 750,000 workers whose unemployment benefits lapsed just […]
Most California employers know that agreements that restrict employees from competing with former employers are illegal and that California courts won’t enforce them. But because of a new California Supreme Court ruling, it is now riskier for you to hire someone who has signed a noncompete clause with a company from another state. This new […]
The federal government has decided to delay implementation of a rule that requires federal contractors to use E-Verify to verify their employees’ eligibility to work in the United States. The rule was scheduled to take effect January 15; implementation has now been delayed until February 20. We’ll keep you posted.
On April 17, the California Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board voted to adopt rewritten and clarified workplace ergonomics regulations aimed at reducing repetitive motion injuries. The regulations probably won’t take effect before early July-assuming threatened lawsuits from employer and labor groups don’t cause further delays. We’ll have a full report in an upcoming issue. […]
Undercover testers-individuals who apply for jobs solely to scope out hiring bias-continue to cause trouble for some employers. The owner of five San Francisco McDonald’s franchises is the latest lawsuit target. Several African-American job seekers were allegedly told that no positions were available or were told to apply in a “ghetto” neighborhood. Others were flatly […]
Production line employees at the IBP Inc. meat processing plant in Pasco, Washington, are required to be at their workstations as the first piece of meat comes down the line. Before taking their positions, the employees must prepare their work tools and change into protective gear, such as sanitary aprons, metalmesh leggings, Kevlar gloves, and […]
In 2005, the California Supreme Court ruled that, under state law, individual managers and corporate officers couldn’t be held personally liable for unpaid wage claims. In other words, only the company could be forced to pay back wages. This was an important victory for California employers (Find out more on the 2005 case). But the […]