Tag: news

Best Practices in Training: It’s Personal

Training has been a priority for McCarthy Building Companies, Inc., throughout its 150-year history. In fact, the commercial construction company states on its website that “learning is at the core of everything we do.” McCarthy was recently recognized for its training efforts as a Training magazine Top 125 Best Practice Award recipient for the fourth […]

Governor Walker friends Facebook users, bars employers from trolling employees’ accounts

by Saul C. Glazer The question of whether employers can require applicants or current employees to divulge social media passwords has been hotly debated both from a legal and a moral standpoint. On April 8, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker signed a bill protecting nonpublic social media accounts. This bill, which takes effect April 10, prohibits […]

NLRB to hear stakeholders on ‘quickie’ election rule

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is set to hear opinions on its proposed changes to the rules governing union representation elections during hearings on April 10-11. The meetings can be seen in their entirety at www.nlrb.gov/openmeeting. The hearings will begin at 9:00 a.m. (ET) at the Board’s Washington, D.C., offices. Speakers had to submit […]

Maryland Legislature passes bill to raise minimum wage to $10.10 by July 1, 2018

by David M. Stevens On the final day of its legislative session, the Maryland General Assembly passed a bill to dramatically raise the state’s minimum wage. The bill, which was supported by Governor Martin O’Malley and is expected to be signed into law, calls for a staggered increase in the minimum wage over a period […]

New executive actions target equal pay for women

President Barack Obama is once again using executive action related to the pay American workers earn. A White House fact sheet says the actions are aimed at fighting pay discrimination and strengthening enforcement of equal pay laws. In one action, Obama signed a presidential memorandum instructing Secretary of Labor Tom Perez to establish new regulations […]

United States reaches cap on H-1B visas in five days

It took just under a week for the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to take in enough H-1B visa petitions to reach the statutory cap for fiscal year 2015, which begins on October 1, 2014. The USCIS announced April 7 that it received sufficient petitions to meet the caps of 65,000 visas for the […]

April 25 date set for Northwestern football union vote

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has scheduled an April 25 union representation vote for Northwestern University football players. Spokespersons in both the Chicago and Washington, D.C., NLRB offices confirmed that the April 25 date has been set but didn’t have more information such as which players will be eligible to vote and when results […]

Treasury Department finalizes rule on hiring women, minorities

by Judith E. Kramer The U.S. Treasury Department has issued a final rule requiring that any entity that enters into a contract with the department make good-faith efforts to include minorities and women in its workforce. The new rule goes into effect April 21. The requirement grows out of the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act, which states […]

Connecticut’s minimum wage will jump to $10.10 per hour in 2017

by Jonathan C. Sterling On March 27, Governor Dannel Malloy signed a law that will increase Connecticut’s minimum wage in each of the next three years. The minimum wage will rise to $10.10 per hour in 2017. You may remember that just last year, a law was passed to increase the minimum wage to $8.70 […]

Safety and Health Training for the Public Sector

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) jurisdiction doesn’t extend to the public sector, but that doesn’t mean the agency is neglecting the safety and health of state and local government employees. Late last year, OSHA launched a new certificate program for public sector employees titled Public Sector Safety and Health Fundamentals. Aimed at training […]