Tag: Employment law

How Employers Can Avoid Becoming an EEOC Statistic: Part 1

by Amy M. McLaughlin In its year-end statistics, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) reported that 75,768 discrimination charges were filed against private-sector employers in 2006. That was the first increase in charge filings in four years. By 2008, the total number of charges filed with the EEOC had jumped 25% to 95,402. With workplace […]

DOL’s Renewed Focus: Wage and Hour Enforcement

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) recently released a report and congressional testimony concerning its investigation of the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) Wage and Hour Division (WHD). The GAO concluded that the “WHD frequently responded inadequately to complaints, leaving low wage workers vulnerable to wage theft.” This article summarizes the GAO’s report, DOL Secretary Hilda […]

Senate Finance Committee’s Proposals to Expand Health Care, Reduce Costs, and Pay for It All

Previously, we discussed three potential option papers the Senate Finance Committee released in April and May which outline major health care reform issues and approaches to resolving them. This week, we will look at the specifics of each of the three papers and what they mean for employers. Since the papers were released, the Congressional […]

Recipe for Disaster

On last night’s rerun episode, Lecture Circuit, Michael, whose office had the highest sales, traveled to other Dunder Mifflin offices to share his “secret recipe for success.”  Along the way, Michael manages to offend every single woman he meets. Poor Pam is the is the main target of Michael’s harassment.  He asks her to take […]

Who’s Got Your Back?

Employment law attorney Michael Maslanka reviews Keith Ferrazzi’s book Who’s Got Your Back. Author of the ubernetworking book Never Eat Alone: And Other Secrets to Success, One Relationship at a Time Keith Ferazzi’s latest book  Who’s Got Your Back: The Breakthrough Program to Build Deep, Trusting Relationships That Create Success–and Won’t Let You Fail argues […]

Ontario Court Rules Class Action Not Allowed for Overtime Claim

By Alix Herber and Ian Campbell One of the hottest issues in Canadian employment law in the past two years has been overtime class-action claims. As we outlined in our October 7, 2008, entry, 2007 saw three overtime class-action lawsuits a $651 million class-action lawsuit filed against the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC), followed […]

Season of Mercy

Last night’s Moroccan Christmas episode is one of my favorites, and as usual, it offered plenty of what-not-to-dos.  At the center of the episode was Michael’s forced intervention with Meredith about her alcohol (porn?) addiction.  But there was also something else at play in the episode.  There was some serious bullying going on. Phyllis finally […]

Teaching Supervisors to Listen Is Key

Training your workforce from top to bottom is important so that everyone has a clear understanding of your company’s commitment to providing a fair and productive environment for all employees. And while it’s true that we can explain the various employment laws and reiterate that they require compliance from all of your employees (and that […]

EEOC Guidance, Best Practices for Working Caregivers

For many employees, the need to care for sick or very young family members weighs more heavily these days. Jobs are scarce, and staying employed is crucial, but family needs don’t magically disappear. While the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) allows unpaid employee leave to care for others, it doesn’t apply to all employers, […]

State Legislation 101: A Guide for Employers

Every U.S. state has a legislative body. From this point, the similarities end. The state retains the discretion to determine the specific details of how its government, including the legislative branch, will operate, and these specifics are typically set forth in that state’s constitution. Thus, just as the political issues affecting one state may be […]