Practical HR Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
In a divided 4-3 ruling, the California Supreme Court has declared unconstitutional state laws limiting marriage to opposite-sex couples.1 The case arose out of San Francisco’s move, back in 2004, to issue marriage licenses to gay and lesbian couples. The decision was immediately challenged, and the California Supreme Court ruled then that the marriages were […]
Restaurant Runners Inc., which contracts with restaurants to deliver prepared meals to customers’ homes, has shelled out $15,200 in civil penalties to settle Department of Labor (DOL) charges that the company violated child labor laws. The DOL said Restaurant Runner, which has offices in Santa Clarita and Bakersfield, allowed minors to work as delivery drivers, […]
A federal appeals court recently ruled that the National Labor Relations Act’s (NLRA) prohibitions against unfair labor practices don’t apply to employees of a U.S.-based company while on temporary assignment outside the country. The case arose after two employees were terminated, allegedly for complaining about work conditions they encountered on temporary assignment in Ottawa. […]
Fed/OSHA continues to move ahead with its controversial ergonomics proposal, despite pending legislation that would require more time for public comment before the rules are finalized. OSHA’s hearings on the proposal wrapped up May 12 after testimony from over 1,000 witnesses, and the agency expects to publish final regulations by year’s end. But the controversy […]
A measure to increase the federal minimum wage to $7.25/hour passed the House last week, over objections of House Democrats, only to fail in the Senate a few days later.
Last year, the U.S. Supreme Court approved the use of mandatory arbitration agreements for employment disputes in a lawsuit brought by a Circuit City employee. But now the Ninth Circuit, after taking a second look at the arbitration provisions in that case, has tossed out the agreement, ruling that it was unduly lopsided and didn’t […]
The U.S. Supreme Court has just issued an important ruling in Ricci v. DeStefano. The case involved firefighters in New Haven, Connecticut who took a civil service test in order to determine who was eligible for promotion.
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has launched a new website – Disability.gov – offering information for people with disabilities, their family members, veterans, caregivers, employers, and others. The new site replaces DisabilityInfo.gov and features information about disability-related programs and services as well as social media tools to serve the more than 50 million Americans […]
Tomorrow, February 1, is the deadline for posting the Cal-OSHA Form 300A, annual summary log of injuries and illnesses that occurred in 2006. The form must remain posted until April 30, 2007. Even if you had no recordable injuries or illnesses in 2006, you must still post a summary with zeros in the total line. […]
If an exempt employee damages or loses company-issued equipment, and you decide to dock the person’s salary to pay for the loss, you risk the employee’s exempt status. That’s the conclusion of a new opinion letter from the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL). The opinion was requested by an employer that issues cell phones and […]