Practical HR Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
California public employees will pay more for doctor visits and prescription drugs in order to hold health care premium increases to 6%, rather than the 15% to 18% hike that had been projected for next year based on HMO bids. The decision by the nation’s largest public pension fund marks a shift toward employees picking […]
First Union Corp. has agreed to pay a whopping $26 million to current and former employees to settle two lawsuits accusing the bank of forcing workers to invest their 401(k) retirement savings in poorly performing mutual funds. The employees charged that First Union included second-rate investment funds in its in-house 401(k) plan and then used […]
When Leslie Kohler sued under California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act claiming that her supervisor at Inter-Tel Technologies sexually harassed her, Inter-Tel said it wasn’t liable because it had taken reasonable steps to prevent harassment and Kohler had unreasonably failed to take advantage of the employer’s corrective opportunities by failing to report the incidents. Kohler […]
A recent verdict against an employer that failed to properly screen an ex-convict serves as a serious warning: You need to thoroughly check applicant backgrounds before putting someone to work as an employee or independent contractor. We’ll offer tips to help you prevent the problems one company faced.
Managing employees with mental disabilities can be challenging—especially when the workers pose a threat to others’ safety. If you take preemptive action, you can get sued under the Americans with Disabilities Act, but if you don’t, you risk the tragic consequences of a violent incident. Two recent cases provide guidance on how to handle potentially […]
Employers tend to give a lot of leeway to high-level or valuable employees. But if a rogue boss’s behavior goes unchecked—and forces other employees to quit—you may have a lawsuit on your hands. In one recent case, the employer’s failure to rein in a renegade manager turned into a $600,000 mistake.
Suppose an employee in their 50s or 60s wants to take advantage of your employee educational assistance program. You may be reluctant to shell out thousands of dollars to educate a worker who’s close to retirement. One employer that faced this situation recently got slapped with an age discrimination lawsuit when an older worker’s request […]
In California, most agreements that restrict employees from competing with former employers are illegal and California courts won’t enforce them. But what if you want to hire someone who signed a non-compete provision with an employer in another state that does recognize these agreements? A California Court of Appeal has confirmed that California employers aren’t […]
Figuring out whether an administrative employee is exempt from overtime can be a challenge. But as a recent California Court of Appeal ruling highlights, the consequences for misclassifying employees can be staggering. We’ll provide guidelines you can use to help ensure that your workers are classified correctly.
California’s workplace injury and illness rates continued to drop in 1999 despite record high employment, according to recent data compiled by the state Division of Labor Statistics and Research. Mirroring a national downward trend, California’s injury rate fell to 6.3 injuries per 100 full-time employees—down from 6.7 in 1998—the lowest rate ever in the 29 […]