Practical HR Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
The U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) new model forms for Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) administration are now available, but don’t expect any substantive change. Only the expiration date has changed.
On June 25, 2018, the 11th Circuit held that a district court did not err in rejecting a jury verdict in favor of an employee on her sexual harassment claim and granting judgment in the employer’s favor. After all, the employer took prompt remedial action by immediately instructing the alleged harasser to stay away from […]
California leads the United States in foreign-born and non-English- speaking residents. According to data from the U.S. Census Bureau, almost half of all Californians speak a language other than English at home. Nearly one-third of the state’s population is foreign-born (10 million people), which accounts for about a quarter of the foreign-born population in the […]
South Carolina employers are facing a September 14 deadline to provide notice to applicants and employees related to the new South Carolina Pregnancy Accommodations Act (SCPAA).
Taco Bell permits employees to buy a reduced-price meal but requires them to eat the meal in the restaurant. Does that turn what would otherwise be an unpaid meal break into paid time? No, according to a recent decision from the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals (whose rulings apply to all California employers).
Asia Argento, one of the first Harvey Weinstein accusers to come forward, now finds herself on the other side of the #MeToo movement in which she had been a prominent figure. According to a recent New York Times report, just months after accusing Weinstein of rape, Argento agreed to pay $380,000 to Jimmy Bennett, an […]
A car wash company provided its employees with a handbook setting forth its employment policies. The handbook was written in both English and Spanish, it required arbitration of employment disputes, and it denied an employee’s right to bring an action under the California Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA). The English version stated that the denial […]
A jury awarded an employee with a speech impediment $500,000 because he was harassed by a supervisor who mimicked his stutter. The central issue on appeal was whether the supervisor’s conduct was sufficiently severe or pervasive to constitute disability harassment. When does a joking atmosphere become a hostile work environment?
While binge-watching everyone’s nostalgic guilty pleasure, Netflix’s Stranger Things, I could not help but empathize with single mother Joyce Byers (played by actress Winona Ryder). Her prepubescent son, Will (Noah Schnapp), was abducted by a monster (the Demogorgon) and sent to a parallel universe (the Upside Down) populated by dog-like monsters. During Will’s disappearance, apparent […]
A number of incidents have surfaced recently in which neighbors or passers-by have called police to report African Americans engaging in seemingly ordinary pursuits. Examples include calls to investigate a college student napping on a couch in her dorm, some friends grilling in a public park, and an 8-year-old girl selling bottled water in front […]