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National Payroll Week celebrates the hard work by America’s 156 million wage earners and the payroll professionals who pay them. Together, through the payroll withholding system, they contribute, collect, report and deposit approximately $1.8 trillion, or 65.7%, of the annual revenue of the U.S. Treasury. Founded in 1996 by the American Payroll Association, NPW is […]
A new fact sheet summarizing federal employment-related laws is available from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. It’s geared toward smaller businesses, but contains a helpful overview of legal obligations that could be of interest to all employers. It covers subjects such as which employers are subject to federal employment laws, how employees are counted for […]
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled a labor arbitration provision in a collective bargaining agreement doesn’t bar an employee from filing a lawsuit claiming he or she was discharged in retaliation for filing a complaint with Cal-OSHA. This is true unless the union contract contains a “clear and unmistakable” waiver of the employee’s […]
Farmers Insurance Exchange has reached a pricey settlement in a long-running class action lawsuit that accused the company of misclassifying claims adjusters as exempt from overtime. Farmers will pay the entire jury verdict from a 2001 trial of more than $90 million, along with about $80 million in attorney’s fees and interest, and $40 million […]
By Stephen D. Bruce, PHR Editor, HR Daily Advisor Taxmageddon is coming says Michael Aitken, SHRM’s Vice President, Government Affairs. If no action is taken by Congress, things could get especially tough for government contractors and military suppliers. What’s Taxmageddon? Taxmageddon comes at the end of 2012, when the payroll tax and unemployment benefits extension […]
Governor Schwarzenegger recently signed S.B. 1441, which expands discrimination protections for individuals in programs or activities conducted, operated, or administered by the state or state agency, or that’s funded directly by the state, or receives any financial assistance from the state. This includes programs such as workers’ compensation and unemployment and disability insurance. Join us […]
The federal Department of Labor has proposed extensive changes to the process for filing a Labor Condition Application (LCA) to employ a foreign worker. The agency says that the new rules would speed up application processing, but HR professionals and immigration attorneys are less optimistic, predicting that the proposal could radically limit the situations in […]
Last month’s Bulletin mentioned that the Immigration and Naturalization Service had asked Congress for an additional year to comply with its mandate to modify the I-9 form. The INS has just been given a six-month extension. Although the INS has announced some interim rule changes, you can continue to use the current I-9 form. We’ll […]
A new type of “starter” retirement savings account for smaller balances that’s backed by the federal government but administered by employers was promised by President Barack Obama in his 2014 State of the Union address on Jan. 28. The president said he would use an Executive Order to direct the U.S. Treasury Department on Jan. […]