Tag: Employment law

Excessive Absenteeism: When Enough is Enough

By Keri Bennett Employers everywhere often wonder when an employee’s “innocent” or no-fault absences reach a level that warrants termination. Can these employees ever be fired? Yes, is the answer from one New Brunswick labor arbitrator in Canadian Union of Public Employees, Local 1252 and Vitalité Health Network. Facts A nurse at a hospital in […]

Moments Like This

Litigation Value: It’s been quite a season. ‘Nuff said. We’re into the summer re-run season, and I’m still rolling with my love of the top-10 list. And even though we missed Michael Scott this season — oh, how we missed him — our favorite crew of paper salesmen and women definitely delivered their share of […]

Mentoring at Work

Mentoring Lets Employees ‘Stand on the Shoulders of Giants’

It’s often said that employees are an employer’s greatest resource. That being the case, it’s no wonder many employers turn to mentoring — the linking of talented but inexperienced employees to proven leaders. Famed scientist and philosopher Sir Isaac Newton has been quoted as saying, “If I have been able to see further, it was […]

Québec Contractors Can’t Have Their Cake and Eat It Too

by Marie-Julie Lanctôt For a variety of reasons, more and more employees want to create companies to provide their services as contractors, rather than employees. Such services will often be identical to those that were provided when the individual was an employee. Subject to a tax, employment insurance or Canada Pension Plan audit, that may […]

iPlaintiff

Litigation value: Ryan gets nothing today, but in a few years ….. who knows? The ADA Amendments Act of 2008 (ADAAA) significantly broadened the ADA’s definition of disability. Ryan had me asking myself how much during last night’s rerun episode, Trivia. During the trivia contest, the organizers confiscated Ryan’s smartphone. Ryan held out for all of eight seconds before deciding that he would rather be ejected from […]

Calculating overtime for employees

Employers That Ignore Overtime Eventually Pay the Price

First, employers must determine whether a nonexempt employee has accumulated enough hours worked to become entitled to overtime pay. Now, let’s assume that the employee has worked enough hours and the issue is how much overtime must be paid. Mastering HR Report: Overtime Count on me Normally, calculating overtime is a pretty simple mathematical exercise […]

New Car Wash Operator Gets Soaked by Old Owner’s FLSA Violations

A car wash operator apparently had a clean record of complying with labor law, but because of a special California labor law, a California appellate court recently held that the car wash was liable for a previous owner’s Fair Labor Standards Act violations, resulting in a $120,000 judgment.  The case, People ex rel. Harris v. […]

Excessive Internet Use by Employees: Is it Time Theft?

By Hadiya Roderique Even in the “Northern Exposure” zones of Canada, employees commonly have access to the Internet at work. Many use the Internet for personal reasons during work time. Many employers are concerned about the loss of productivity resulting from excessive personal use of the Internet. A number of employers have attempted to characterize […]

Welcome Back, Wallace

While this blogger is sad to bid farewell to Robert California, the news of David Wallace’s return to the company is certainly exciting. In honor of his triumphant return as CEO of Dunder Mifflin, below is a list of my favorite Wallace moments. 1. The basketball game at Wallace’s house. After Wallace and Jim sneak […]

Public Disclosure by Former Employees: Could the Goldman Sachs Nightmare Happen to You?

by Peter A. Jones Few would question that the world has changed. Collectively, social media, unlimited Internet access, and a shift in the way news is gathered and reported have created a different and challenging environment when employees go “public.” Indeed, the very definition of what constitutes “news” is constantly evolving, as is the news […]