Practical HR Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
Drugs, alcohol, and employment generally don’t mix well. Employers face tricky choices when creating policies that address workplace substance use and abuse while still ensuring they stay within the bounds of state and federal laws, including the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Employers must decide whether to require drug testing and then craft policies that […]
By Brian P. Smeenk As we all contemplate our personal goals for next year (have you, too, promised yourself to work out more?), what resolutions should you make for your business in Canada? Your CFO might urge the normal resolutions of cutting back on consumption or reducing your size. But maybe there are some more […]
Litigation Value: Zilch. An episode blissfully free of employment law problems! Tonight’s episode — the last of 2011 — brings up a reprise of “The Garden Party,” previously blogged by my colleague Brian Kurtz. Most of the action takes place outside of the usual office setting, at Dwight’s bucolic beet farm/budding party venue. In an effort […]
An industry that’s no stranger to government scrutiny and suspicion has the promise of more oversight … and costs. DOL’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) recently proposed expanding the reach of its minimum-wage and overtime requirements to cover more home health care and other home care workers – the folks who work with the elderly […]
By Brian P. Smeenk Canadian labor arbitrators are not legally bound to court-made legal rules. Rules of evidence, for example, are more relaxed. Rules of contract interpretation may also vary. But just how far arbitrators can deviate from general rules of law has been an open question. A recent decision by the Supreme Court of […]
Litigation Value: potentially millions when Dunder Mifflin/Saber tries to assert ownership rights over the Stapler-Marker or scented pink paper. In an unusual deviation from its comic roots, last night’s episode of The Office, “Gettysburg,” tackled a difficult societal issue: the isolation and depression resulting from corporate America treating business like war….. Ok, that’s not true […]
California lawmakers stayed busy throughout the year, passing a number of new wage, hour, leave and anti-discrimination laws. Here, in no particular order, are some of the biggies that go into effect Jan. 1: Pregnancy Disability Leave All employers with five or more employees will be required, starting Jan. 1, to continue to maintain and […]
By Clayton Jones and Derek Knoechel A growing frustration for Canadian employers is the need to defend against human rights claims arising out of the same factual circumstances in multiple forums. Discrimination claims that are presumptively dealt with by a labor arbitrator can resurface as virtually identical claims before a human rights tribunal. While most […]
Litigation Value: Lots and lots of coal in everybody’s stockings! Last night’s episode of The Office was a repeat of the night we were introduced to Pam’s temporary replacement, Kathy. Since my colleague Josh Drexler ably covered that episode when it aired a few weeks ago, I thought I’d just take this opportunity to look […]
Whether engaging in a specific project, such as working with IT to incorporate text-to-speech readers or other assistive technology in your online environment, or carrying out the seemingly simple task of adjusting your hiring and recruiting page, you must be up to date on Web access for disabled employees and applicants. Are you aware of […]