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California’s new workplace ergonomics rules won’t take effect until they are rewritten to make them easier to understand. The California Office of Administrative Law, which must approve all new state regulations, has just rejected the rules and asked for clarification of several different sections. The California Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board expects to have […]
The Department of Transportation has begun enforcing a rule that prohibits motor carriers from placing extraneous information on placards or in placard holders reserved for hazardous materials information. The measure, which took effect Oct. 1, 2001, bans signs, advertisements and slogans such as “Drive Safely” that reduce the ability of emergency responders to immediately recognize […]
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has released new guidance explaining the rights of the blind and visually impaired under the Americans with Disabilities Act. The new guidance, issued in a question-and-answer format, covers when a vision impairment qualifies as a disability, questions employers may ask applicants and employees about their vision impairments, the circumstances […]
Previously, we discussed three potential option papers the Senate Finance Committee released in April and May which outline major health care reform issues and approaches to resolving them. This week, we will look at the specifics of each of the three papers and what they mean for employers. Since the papers were released, the Congressional […]
by Brian Smeenk, formerly with McCarthy Tetrault A new statutory holiday, Family Day, has been declared in the province of Ontario. It will be celebrated on February 18. In subsequent years, it will fall on the third Monday of each February. Employers should begin considering how their organization will respond. In particular, employers should begin […]
by Lorene Novakowski The British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal had no jurisdiction to hear a complaint where the alleged harasser was employed by a different employer than the alleged victim. The alleged harasser was not in a position of control over the complainant even though they worked at the same site. So the complaint was […]
Employers that pay advances, allowances or reimbursements to employees for work-related entertainment expenses — including taxpayers who, in turn, get reimbursed by their clients for such expenses — have until Oct. 30 to comment on a proposed regulation IRS published Aug. 1. The proposed rule clarifies who — among the employer, its client and an […]
Under the wage orders, “to employ” means to “engage, suffer, or permit” someone to work for you. Sound confusing? It can be. The simplest approach is to assume that any person who does work for you that is part of your company’s business (who does some part of the work necessary to make the goods […]
Russell Crawford, the former owner of Valley Building Materials in Canoga Park, was ordered to spend six months in jail plus 10 months of home confinement for embezzling more than $700,000 from employee pension plans. Following a joint investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor and the FBI, Crawford reportedly admitted draining the company’s profit […]
U.S. staffing companies are seeing a gain in 2010 profits despite a 26-year high in the national unemployment rate, reports Bloomberg’s Steve Matthews and Anthony Feld. Private companies hired fewer new employees last month than they did in each of the previous 10, with hiring the weakest on record since January. However, this has created […]