Practical HR Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
What can we do to get our supervisors and managers to pay attention to documentation? We’re ending up too often with too little documentation to support our discipline and terminations.
New rules just put in effect will make e-mails more useful as evidence in lawsuits, but e-mail systems costlier to maintain. See box below for information on a special audio conference explaining this and other key federal employment law changes for 2007. It was the smoking gun that blew away the giant Arthur Andersen accounting […]
Voters in Oklahoma decided to show their disapproval of the insurance mandate found in federal health care reform by passing a health care choice measure on Election Day. The initiative allows Oklahoma residents to opt out of health care mandates by prohibiting laws that would make residents, employers, or health care providers participate in a […]
We’ve got a fork truck driver whose hearing is so bad that he can’t hear people shout at him, and he can’t hear warning honks. We think he’s a real danger to other workers. What can we do? — Joel, HR Manager in Merced
Health costs have been growing much faster than the rate of inflation, and most observers agree that while health reform addresses the issue of access to insurance, it inadequately addresses the underlying problem: the cost of care itself. Unanswered questions surround reversing the unsustainable cost of health services. For example, would replacing the fee-for-service system […]
Why is the Normal Retirement Age in defined benefit plans, like ours, usually age 65? Can we change our Normal Retirement Age? – Nancy C., Berkeley 400+ pages of state-specific, easy-read reference materials at your fingertips—fully updated! Check out the Guide to Employment Law for California Employers and get up to speed on everything […]
It’s important to be extra careful when evaluating the abilities of an employee who was previously injured and wants to come back to work. Unless you carefully consider the individual’s current skills and recent medical reports, deciding that the worker can’t perform certain tasks can expose you to an expensive discrimination lawsuit for erroneously regarding […]
According to its annual report issued November 16, 2009, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) received 93,277 private-sector discrimination charges in fiscal year (FY) 2009, its second highest total in the past 20 years. In addition, the EEOC obtained record relief of almost $300 million for alleged discrimination victims through administrative enforcement. Breakdown of Charges […]
If an employee of a contractor you’ve hired gets injured on the job, the person can seek workers’ comp benefits from the contractor. But can the worker also come after you with a lawsuit for damages—arguing that you put them at risk by not ensuring that the contractor was competent to perform the work? The […]
The Internal Revenue Service has issued new materials to help small businesses and plan administrators understand how to maintain the tax-favored status of employee retirement plans. A pamphlet explains the various correction programs operated by various federal agencies, and a CD-ROM includes more detailed information on the correction programs, guidance on qualification requirements and self-audit […]