Practical HR Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
Normally in HR Hero Line, we focus on employment laws and issues that affect most employers. But when a state-specific workers’ comp case comes along that involves (1) a worker smoking pot before (2) his job feeding grizzly bears for (3) a company that says its workers were volunteers, (not employees), we think it’s worth […]
When I first thought about writing a lighthearted piece on Debrahlee Lorenzana, she was still a little-known would-be sexual harassment litigant. A few days have passed, and she is now well on her way to being a worldwide phenomenon. It seems that every time you turn on the TV, there she is, talking about how […]
By Derek Knoechel As we reported in an article last year, courts across the country are generally following the Supreme Court of Canada’s decision in Keays v. Honda Canada: Punitive damages should be awarded only in exceptional cases, and moral damages should be limited to actual losses resulting from the employer’s conduct. That has left […]
NBC trotted out a repeat — St. Patrick’s Day — last night. My colleague, Jaclyn West, wrote an excellent piece focusing on work-life balance when the episode originally aired back in March. Jaclyn’s post made me think about potential wage-hour issues that arise when employers demand long work days. It’s no secret that wage-hour litigation is a […]
by Jonathan C. Sterling If an employee whose job involves talking on the phone and using a computer states under oath that he is unable to perform those tasks because of a disability, it’s logical to assume he can’t do his job. However, as a recent federal appellate court decision demonstrates, that may not always […]
By Gilda Villaran In our January 4, 2010, article titled Obtaining a Work Permit in Canada: The Labour Market Opinion Process, we explained that in order to get a work permit for a foreign worker, an employer in Canada generally must first obtain a Labour Market Opinion (LMO) from the Department of Human Resources and […]
Immigration reform appears to have stalled yet again, but the legal implications for employers have not. Back in 2005 and again in 2006 there was a novel case in which legal employees used a law designed to target organized crime to sue their employer over its use of illegal employees. The case bounced around the […]
By Donna Gallant As we reported four weeks ago (Shocking Arbitration Decision in Ontario), a prominent Canadian arbitrator recently ordered the Greater Toronto Airports Authority (GTAA) to pay more than $500,000 in damages, finding that it failed to take reasonable steps to ascertain the truth about an employee’s medical condition and fired her for sick […]
Litigation Value: training management on whistleblower protections — $10,000; settling customer claims due to the flaming printers — more than Sabre would like to think about; finding out Holly’s coming back — priceless. The printers aren’t the only things heating up at Sabre. Jo’s mission to root out the whistleblower had more than one person […]
by Chris McFadden Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), employees may be entitled to compensation for time spent donning and doffing uniforms if they are required to do so at work. A recent ruling by the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals addresses the compensability of time spent donning and doffing uniforms and gear […]