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More Emergency Closing Challenges—and an HR and Comp Managers’ “Multi-Tool” to Get You Through

In the last Advisor, we considered compensation challenges related to emergency closings. Today: Related hassles and the problem solver thousands of HR pros use to help them through it. In an emergency closure, ordinary procedures are usually disrupted. Here are key processes you need to have in place to keep things going: Notification Notification is […]

News Notes: New Fed/OSHA Ergonomics Rules May Be On Hold

The U.S. Senate and House of Representatives have blocked funding for new national ergonomics rules intended to reduce repetitive motion injuries in the workplace. The rules, which would affect an estimated 27 million employees whose jobs involve repetitive tasks or manual labor, would impose heavier burdens on employers than existing California standards. The vote prevents […]

E-Alert Item: Court Says Employer Erred When It Unilaterally Discontinued Dues Check-Off Provision

When a collective bargaining agreement expires, and the union and management haven’t negotiated a new one, an employer must maintain the status quo. This means the employer can’t impose unilateral changes on issues that are considered “mandatory subjects of bargaining,” until a new contract is negotiated or the parties have bargained to impasse. Applying this […]

Digital Danger: Prevention Starts with Policies

Note: There is no E-pinion today as we’ve reorganized the week a bit to deal with the holiday. Bob Brady will return next Friday with an E-pinion on how to handle pay increases for new employees who do outstanding jobs. As we saw in yesterday’s Advisor, new technology has generated a string of issues in […]

California State Agencies Over Report Stimulus Jobs

California has received $12.8 billion dollars in federal stimulus funds since February of 2009. State agencies have reported over 54,000 jobs created with these funds. The problem? A recent report by the California Bureau of State Audits found that the job creation numbers are not being recorded accurately. The December 21 audit report looked at […]

Wage and Hour: Rent-A-Center Settles Overtime and Meal Breaks Suit

Rent-A-Center Inc., a rent-to-own business based in Plano, Texas, has agreed to shell out $4.95 million (including attorney’s fees) to settle a class action lawsuit charging that the company violated California wage and hour laws pertaining to overtime, meal and rest breaks, and delaying final paychecks. The settlement, which will be shared by about 6,000 […]

IRS Proposes Rule on Reimbursed Entertainment Expenses

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 […]

Employee or Independent Contractor?

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 […]