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Litigation Value: Nothing much to speak of, although Dwight will hopefully value Jim a little bit higher now. Well, Dwight has a lot to thank Jim for after this week. I’d like to think that he might improve his attitude and behavior toward Jim — and the rest of the office, for that matter — […]
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is refocusing its HIPAA privacy enforcement efforts on seeking monetary penalties in cases of “abject failure” to comply, the head of HHS’ Office for Civil Rights (OCR) indicated. “The majority of matters we handle are going to be resolved through education” as they have in the […]
Employers have many issues to consider when writing employee leave policies. Questions such as, “How will time accrue?” “When do employees become eligible for leave?” and “Under what circumstances should employees be paid when on leave?” barely scratch the surface. But when the issue is bereavement leave, employers may feel they have more at stake […]
As the Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division steps up enforcement initiatives, the need for employers to monitor their wage and hour practices is growing. Speaking at the Society for Human Resource Management’s 2012 Employment Law and Legislative Conference March 5, Tammy McCutchen of Littler Mendelson in Washington, a former Bush appointee at DOL, […]
Never base a worker classification decision on uncertainty, according to attorney Christine Walters. Walters, a Maryland HR consultant presenting at the Society for Human Resource Management’s legislative conference in Washington, D.C., March 5, ticked off the many reasons employers might be inclined to classify a worker as an independent contractor. Among them: to avoid paying […]
The proliferation of mobile devices has blurred the line between employer and employee information, and created new threats to sensitive data that are all too well chronicled. But common-sense steps can still be taken to minimize these risks without stifling the usefulness of these new tools, two data privacy and security experts said in a […]
By Hadiya Roderique Working notice — the default under many pieces of employment standards in Canada — can be a way to reduce an organization’s cost of termination of employment. But what happens when an employee quits in response to getting fired before the end of the notice period? And what happens when the working […]
Litigation value: $150,000. This isn’t Hooters, Dwight. Requiring Kathy to flirt with customers is sexual harassment. Additional damages if Todd Packer plays his sexual predator role as well as we suspect he can. “Bloggers are gross. Bloggers are obese. Bloggers have halitosis.” — Dwight Shrute Sticks and stones, Dwight. Sticks and stones. Dwight should be […]
by Craig L. Olivo Q: An exempt employee was out for a week. He had eight hours of accrued sick time, which he used before coming in and working two unauthorized hours at the end of the week. Are we required to pay him for the whole week? A: Generally, under the Fair Labor Standards […]
The old saying goes that the devil is in the details. When considering the doctrine of at-will employment, it may be more correct to say the answers are in the details. But, that doesn’t mean some of those details aren’t a bit devilish to decipher. HR professionals often struggle with termination decisions. The decision is […]