Practical HR Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
Extreme heat during the summer months poses a risk to outdoor workers, in particular, and creates a potential liability for their employers if steps are not taken to protect workers’ health and safety. The risk is real. Two years ago, there were 31 heat-related worker deaths, as well as 4,120 heat-related worker illnesses, according to […]
by Josh Wood and H. Mark Adams Louisiana’s new Personal Online Account Privacy Protection Act (House Bill 340) goes into effect August 1. It precludes employers from requesting or requiring employees and job applicants to disclose any username or password that allows access to their personal online accounts. The law prohibits employers from discharging or […]
by Dinita L. James A new Arizona law going into effect July 24 means employees who are let go with severance pay won’t be eligible for unemployment benefits right away. The law adds a new section to Arizona Revised Statutes § 23-621 to define severance pay, a term that was undefined in earlier legislation, which […]
by Rachael E. Luzietti The comment period for the proposed rule to implement President Barack Obama’s Executive Order to raise the minimum wage for employees working on government contracts ends July 28. Those interested in having their voices heard should submit comments at www.regulations.gov. In February, Obama issued Executive Order 13658, which mandates a minimum […]
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) recently released a new interactive training tool to help small businesses effectively identify hazards in the workplace. Employers and workers can virtually explore how to identify common workplace hazards in the manufacturing and construction industries. Users of the new training tool will not only learn hazard identification skills […]
by Leanne Mehrman and Chelsey McDade Georgia’s newest gun law, the Safe Carry Protection Act of 2014, goes into effect on July 1 and greatly expands the list of places where licensed gun owners may legally carry their weapons to include schools, government buildings, churches, and bars. Employers, however, can take advantage of certain limits […]
The U.S. Supreme Court reviewed the Affordable Care Act (ACA) again this term, and today, it held in Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc. that the ACA’s contraceptive mandate violates the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 (RFRA) as it is applied to “closely held corporations.” According to the Court’s 5-4 opinion, the mandate “substantially […]
by Susan G. Fentin Massachusetts is set to soon have the highest minimum wage in the country. On June 26, Governor Deval Patrick signed a bill that will raise the state’s minimum wage from $8 per hour to $11 an hour by 2017, the highest statewide minimum wage in the country and a full 50 […]
On June 26, 2014, the U.S Supreme Court unanimously upheld the decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in Noel Canning v. NLRB, concluding that President Barack Obama’s three recess appointments to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB)—Sharon Block, Richard Griffin, and Terence Flynn—were not valid. Accordingly, since three out of the […]
Deloitte, LLP, which was named “#1 Private Company for Leadership Development” by Chief Executive magazine early this year, sponsors a variety of competitions that provide learning opportunities for college students and bolster the firm’s recruiting efforts. In January, a team of University of Wisconsin students went up against eight finalist teams from other colleges and […]