Practical HR Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
For the first time since 1986, the U.S. Department of Labor has proposed new rules affecting the COBRA notice requirements. COBRA rules affect individuals’ rights to continue group health coverage under certain circumstances. For employers the consequences for not giving written notice in accordance with COBRA rules can be steep, including having to pay an […]
The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that wage and hour cases filed in state court under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act can be moved to federal court at an employer’s request. Employers might prefer to have a case heard in federal court for a number of reasons, including the higher standard applied to jury verdicts. […]
Suppose an employee’s medical condition prevents them from performing their job. Instead of exploring whether a reasonable accommodation is available, you terminate the employee. And, not surprisingly, you wind up with a disability-bias lawsuit on your hands. But what if it turns out the employee wasn’t disabled in the first place? Can you still be […]
A San Bernardino jury’s $1.45 million verdict for a disabled employee underscores the importance of making sure that physical agility tests actually measure the ability to perform essential job functions. Judy Tousignant was a part-time juvenile hall counselor for San Bernardino County for eight years. In a physical agility test required for promotion to a […]
Many employers have discovered that successful telework arrangements can provide high levels of flexibility and employee satisfaction. And, as a new fact sheet from the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission points out, you may be required to consider telework as a reasonable accommodation for disabled employees. Modifying Telework Programs The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) […]
A California appeals court has given the green light to a California State University employee’s constructive discharge suit—even though she technically didn’t quit her job but rather took a disability retirement. The employee claimed that after she blew the whistle on alleged misappropriation of public funds, she was subjected to a pattern of harassment that […]
The California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) will pay approximately $250 million in disability benefits to more than 1,700 retired state and local safety officers to settle an age-bias lawsuit brought by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The lawsuit charged that CalPERS—following a state law adopted in 1980—linked the amount of disability benefits to […]
The U.S. Supreme Court will take up several workplace-related cases this year. In one, the court will review a Ninth Circuit ruling regarding the type of evidence a terminated employee can use to prove job discrimination when an employer has both legitimate and illegal reasons for the discharge. Other cases on the court’s docket involve […]
The California Supreme Court has handed down a new decision making it easier for disabled workers in California to sue their employers for job discrimination. The court ruled that under the state Fair Employment and Housing Act, an individual claiming workplace disability discrimination need only show that their disorder limits a major life activity. In […]
The federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has updated its enforcement guidance concerning reasonable accommodation and undue hardship under the Americans with Disabilities Act. The revisions stem from a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling that it is unreasonable for an employer to have to reassign a disabled employee if doing so would violate a seniority system, […]