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The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009 changed the scope of claims for pay discrimination, stating that each additional paycheck issued under a discriminatory pay decision constitutes a new act of discrimination, which then resets the clock on the limited time during which employees may file suit. In a unanimous decision issued Monday, the […]
FedEx recently announced that it will offer health insurance benefits to same-sex domestic partners, according to The Commercial Appeal, a Memphis, Tennessee, newspaper. The Memphis-based company plans to begin offering the new insurance benefits beginning January 1, 2012. In the Appeal article, FedEx spokesperson Sandra Munoz noted that: FedEx employees have been asking for this […]
By Alan King and Tony Kessler At first glance, you might think a TV show featuring plane crash survivors on a remote Pacific island — with time travel and an evil smoke monster thrown in to boot — would yield few if any insights into how to run a great workplace. But as the six-year […]
The National Mediation Board (NMB) has finalized a new rule that is expected to make unionization easier for airline and railroad workers, but an airline industry group has filed a lawsuit to try to stop the change. The NMB, which regulates labor issues at airlines and railroads, changed its rules so that unions will need […]
by Joanna R. Vilos President Barack Obama today nominated Elena Kagan to replace Justice John Paul Stevens on the U.S. Supreme Court. Stevens has a reputation for making employee-friendly decisions in cases that have reached the high court, but most employers don’t have much familiarity with Kagan or her views on employment-related issues. So how […]
Last weekend, we experienced one of the worst disasters ever to hit Middle Tennessee as historic floods ravaged the state. M. Lee Smith Publishers, the company that produces HR Hero and other HR products including the state Employment Law Letters, is headquartered in Brentwood, Tennessee, just south of Nashville. On May 1 and 2, record […]
A part of the massive health care reform law aimed at encouraging employers to offer health insurance to early retirees is set to launch June 1. Regulations for the Early Retirement Reinsurance Program were issued by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on May 4. The program will provide $5 billion for […]
During a series of Web chats held last week, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) unveiled an ambitious prevention program as part of its spring regulatory agenda. The program, known as I2P2, is a major paradigm shift for the department, and as a result, input on the development of the program will be worked […]
Immigration reform legislation continues to heat up on both the state and federal fronts. In the midst of protests surrounding a new Arizona law that critics see as a license for racial profiling, a group of Democratic senators unveiled a new federal bill on April 29 that would require employers to use biometric social security […]
Adding momentum to federal agencies’ ongoing initiatives to crack down on employee misclassification, the U.S. House and Senate have introduced legislation intended to curtail the misclassification of employees as independent contractors. The Employee Misclassification Prevention Act, introduced April 22, would amend the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) to impose additional compliance and record-keeping requirements on […]