Tag: Employment law

Tesla’s CEO makes personal pledge for employee safety

Tesla, an electric-automobile manufacturer, made headlines last month after Worksafe, a California-based worker advocacy group, released a report indicating that the injury rates at Tesla’s Fremont manufacturing facility were higher than the industry average in 2014 and 2015. For example, the report indicated that the rate of serious injuries at Tesla’s Fremont plant (i.e., those […]

Discipline for off-duty cocaine use justified in safety-sensitive workplace

by Rosalind H. Cooper A recent decision of the Supreme Court of Canada in Stewart v Elk Valley Coal Corp., 2017 SCC 30, has confirmed that employers have the ability to take disciplinary action against employees for drug and alcohol use in safety-sensitive workplaces. The worker in this case was employed in a mine where […]

NLRB

Kaplan Nomination Called Way to ‘Stop the Bleeding’ at NLRB

President Donald Trump’s announcement that he will nominate Marvin Kaplan, currently chief counsel of the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission, to one of two vacant seats on the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is being hailed by probusiness interests as a way to bring balance to the Board.

Does your organization suffer from ‘hiring snooze’?

by Samuel D. Kerr We’ve all heard the common saying “You snooze, you lose.” Put another way, if you don’t pay attention and do something right away, someone else will do it before you can and enjoy the benefit. Taking too long to complete the hiring process can have the same effect.  Laws that may […]

FMLA

Ivanka Trump, senators advance ideas on paid family leave

by Tammy Binford As the idea to make paid family leave mandatory continues to gain attention, employers may be wondering what various paid leave proposals might mean for their businesses. A June 20 meeting between first daughter and presidential adviser Ivanka Trump and a handful of senators doesn’t draw a clear picture of what may […]

SHRM Session: 5 Easy Business Practices For Getting Sued

Getting sued is easy. It’s avoiding lawsuits that is the real challenge. The HR Daily Advisor was recently at the SHRM’s 2017 Annual Conference & Exposition in New Orleans. Here we attended a session entitled From the Boardroom to the Courtroom: Top 10 Business Practices That Will Get You Sued, presented by Pavneet Singh Uppal […]

ATK curdles its executive transition

by Mark I. Schickman We wrote last May about the kerfuffle between ABC-TV and Kelly Ripa when the network moved Live! with Kelly and Michael cohost Michael Strahan off the show behind her back (see “Pop quiz: Will she be Ripa roaring mad?”). The diminutive Ripa and the global network have since kissed and made […]

Broader workplace harassment claims: Is Canada becoming more litigious?

by Shane Todd Can a Canadian employee sue an employer for harassment that is not related to a discrimination claim? The answer used to be “no.” But that’s changing. In most jurisdictions across Canada, an employee could sue or file a human rights application for harassment related to unlawful discrimination. An employee could file a […]

hiring

Looking for solutions to the talent gap? Don’t forget legal concerns

Employers in an array of fields lament a shortage of talent. Sometimes employers are able to attract a flood of eager applicants, but few possess the skills and qualities needed. Other times, employers need people for special, short-term projects, and they don’t want to take on full-time, permanent employees to get the job done. No […]

benefits

Bill Proposes Benefits for Gig Workers

A bill introduced in both houses of Congress would create a pilot program to provide employment benefits to gig workers. This Portable Benefits for Independent Workers Pilot Program Act (S. 1251, H.R. 2685) would allot the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) $20 million to test portable benefits in fiscal year 2018. “[A] growing number of […]