Practical HR Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
We are in the process of reworking all of our selection and hiring paperwork. I’m trying to insist on strong at-will language throughout, from application to offer letter to handbook. But our management is trying to improve retention and wants to brand the company as “a great place to work.” They think the at-will language […]
A California Court of Appeal has ruled that a mechanic whose face was disfigured in a workplace explosion can have cosmetic surgery covered by workers’ compensation. The mechanic suffered severe burns when a welding torch ignited a fireball inside the fiber glass tank he was dismantling. The state Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board had determined that […]
by Kevin C. McCormick Maryland’s new Parental Leave Act (PLA), which grants unpaid parental leave benefits to employees working for some employers too small to be eligible for leave under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), will take effect October 1. The PLA requires employers with 15 to 49 employees to provide unpaid […]
Yokohama Tire Corp. employee Christopher Miller sued under RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations), the federal organized crime statute, charging Yokohama conducted a fraudulent scheme to deny employees overtime. Miller claimed high-ranking Yokohama employees falsely told him and other workers they weren’t entitled to overtime pay because they were salaried, and that every time Yokohama […]
A new publication from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health includes recommendations for limiting the negative effects of shift work. Among the strategies covered are scheduling heavy or demanding work when employees are most alert, avoiding quick shift changes and eliminating permanent night shifts. A free copy of the publication “Plain Language About […]
California Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi has announced that workers’ compensation insurers in the state have filed rate reductions averaging 14.6 percent for policies incepting on or after July 1, 2005. These latest cuts bring the cumulative rate reduction to 26.78 percent since the massive workers’ compensation reforms of 2003 and 2004.
Beginning February 1 and through April 30, 2006, you’re required to post the Cal-OSHA Form 300A annual summary log of injuries and illnesses that occurred in 2005. Even if you had no recordable injuries or illnesses in 2005, you must still post a summary with zeros in the total line. This posting requirement applies to […]
You know you can’t retaliate against an employee who has a valid wage claim. But what about an employee who mistakenly thinks he has a wage claim?
It’s National Boss’s Day. Have you sent your boss a card? Perhaps it should carry this message from Jack Welch … that HR needs to be a more prominent part of your organization. If you think that HR should be as important a function at your company as finance, marketing, or production, and that HR […]
On Jan. 1, 2008, the controversial San Francisco Health Care Security Ordinance went into effect, extending health coverage to uninsured residents and requiring medium- and large-sized employers to either provide employees with health benefits or pay a fee to the city to help fund the insurance program.