Practical HR Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
When Municipal Resource Consultants (MRC) tried to compel former employee Nicholas O’Hare to arbitrate a wrongful discharge and age-bias lawsuit, O’Hare contended the mandatory arbitration provision he signed wasn’t fair. The agreement required him to arbitrate all claims against the company, while it permitted MRC to file a lawsuit against him for injunctive relief. A […]
The rules on when you can legally dock exempt employees’ pay are complex, and it’s easy to make mistakes. For example, if you dock when you shouldn’t, the person could be considered an hourly worker entitled to back overtime. However, under a special federal provision known as the “window of correction” rule, you may be […]
The State Compensation Insurance Fund (known as State Fund), California’s largest workers’ comp insurer, has announced an average 16 percent rate cut for policies effective on or after Jan. 1, 2006. This is the fifth consecutive decrease since 2004, marking an average cumulative drop of 38 percent for State Fund policyholders. This latest State Fund […]
One of your employees has been copying pornographic images off the Internet and showing them to coworkers. Another has been distributing racist jokes through company e-mail. And others have downloaded some hot new software onto their office PCs, violating federal copyright laws. It’s bad enough these employees are surfing the Net instead of working. But […]
When Joshua Josephs applied for a service tech position with Pacific Bell Telephone Co., he checked “no” to the job application question, “Have you ever been convicted of, or are you awaiting trial for, a felony or misdemeanor?” Josephs was hired for the position, which required him to install and repair phones unsupervised in homes, […]
If you’ve ever hired the wrong person for the job, you know that the poor fit stings—personally, professionally, and financially. Every rushed or subpar talent acquisition means a new and long road of pain.
Yesterday, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia held that the individual health insurance mandate provision found in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), the comprehensive health care reform legislation that President Barack Obama signed into law in March 2010, is unconstitutional. The individual mandate would require most individuals to […]
Those cases include General Dynamics Land Systems Inc. v. Cline, where the high court will consider whether the federal age-bias law permits employees over age 40 to sue because other workers also over age 40 were treated more favorably based on age. In Raytheon Co. v. Hernandez, the justices will decide whether the Americans with […]
It’s that time again; employers and their employees are getting ready to vote. It is an exciting time that engenders a good deal of discussion—and probably some arguments—at coffee machines and in lunchrooms. As with many areas of employment law, a patchwork quilt of federal and state laws governs the employer interface with political issues. […]
The following is a list of the bestselling hardcover business books as ranked by the Wall Street Journal with data from Nielsen BookScan on September 20. 1. StrengthsFinder 2.0: A New and Upgraded Edition of the Online Test from Gallup’s Now, Discover Your Strengths by Tom Rath. Are you unsure where your true talents lie? […]