Practical HR Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
The United States Supreme Court recently held that when an employee brings a claim of discrimination, the employee may rely on circumstantial evidence to prove that the employer was motivated in part by illegal factors (such as the worker’s age, sex, religion, etc.). In a future article we will outline what this means for employers […]
A new U.C. Berkeley study concludes that employees who drink off the job are more likely to file workers’ comp claims. The research focused on San Francisco Municipal Railway drivers’ alcohol consumption, medical histories and workers’ compensation claims over a five-year period. In light of this finding, you may want to consider offering employee assistance […]
The U.S. Department of Labor has just announced the launch of its first application for smartphones: a timesheet to help employees independently track the hours they work and determine the wages they are owed. Available in English and Spanish, users can track regular work hours, break time, and any overtime hours for one or more […]
Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi has announced he will recommend a 16.4 percent decrease in the workers’ compensation pure premium rate for policies starting on or after July 1, 2006. This recommendation is the latest in a string of recommended rate reductions since July 2003, when workers’ comp reforms went into effect. The cumulative recommended reductions […]
September 27, 2010 On and after March 30, 2010, both coverage under an employer-provided health plan and amounts paid or reimbursed under such a plan for medical care expenses of an employee’s child who has not attained age 27 as of the end of the employee’s taxable year are excluded from the employee’s gross income […]
The U.S. Labor Department’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (formerly the Pension and Welfare Benefits Administration) has finalized rules for implementing a new federal law requiring 401(k) plans to give workers 30-day advance notice of blackout periods during which they can’t make transactions. The rules took effect on January 26, 2003.
Despite the prosperity of the late 1990s, the number of workers covered by employer-sponsored health care insurance did not grow. The Center for Studying Health System Change found about three-quarters of people under age 65 were covered by employer-sponsored health care in 2001, the same as in 1997. In 2001, 75.6 percent of workers had […]
Among the employment-related bills recently signed by the governor is one requiring that employers with 50 or more employees conduct sexual harassment training for supervisors every two years. A.B. 1825 goes into effect Jan. 1, 2006, and now is the time to begin preparing.
California overtime pay rules don’t apply to unionized employees if the union contract sets premium overtime rates as well as a regular hourly rate that’s at least 30% over the minimum wage. Examining an older version of this exemption, a California Court of Appeal explained that it permits an employer and union to negotiate how […]
Meeting COBRA election notice requirements can be tricky – and even a minor oversight can potentially be expensive. A recent opinion letter from the Department of Labor clarifies the process for providing COBRA election notices to households with more than one qualified beneficiary. If several beneficiaries live at the same address, you can send their […]