Tag: news

Responding to This Week’s Job Loss Announcements

The HR Hero Line you are seeing today isn’t exactly what we had planned. But by noon on what is now being called “Bloody Monday,” we knew we needed to address the fallout from so many job cut announcements, which were then followed on Tuesday by possibly the worst unemployment report from the U.S. Bureau […]

Obama Signs Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act

Thursday morning, President Barack Obama signed the first bill of his White House tenure, putting his campaign theme of change into immediate action by overturning U.S. Supreme Court precedent.The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act will affect employers charged with pay discrimination by significantly expanding employees’ time for filing suit. Specifically, the Fair Pay Act amends […]

U.S. Supreme Court Issues Major Decision in Title VII Retaliation Case

The U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled today (Jan. 26, 2009) that the anti-retaliation provisions of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 apply to employees who voluntarily cooperate with an employer’s internal investigations, even if the employee didn’t initiate the investigation and has filed no formal charge. In the case, Vicky Crawford was […]

Reminder about OSHA Posting Requirement

It’s time to post your Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Form 300A, the summary of job-related injuries and illnesses that occurred last year. Unless you have 10 or fewer employees or fall within one of the industries normally excused from the Occupational Safety and Health Act’s (OSH Act) recordkeeping and posting requirements, you’re required […]

Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act passed

Update: U.S. Senate has passed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act and it has been sent to President Barack Obama. He is scheduled to sign the bill into law on Jan. 29, 2009. In one of its first major employment law actions of the year, the U.S. House of Representatives has passed legislation that will […]

Benefits 2009 HR Hero Survey

Each January, HR Hero asks its readers about the benefits their company plans to offer in the new year. With the changes in the economy and employers looking for ways to cut expenses, will they be reducing benefits or passing more of the cost of them on to employee? Take the survey and we’ll report […]

New E-Verify Rule for Federal Contractors Delayed

Update: E-verify deadline moved to September 2009 Federal contractors have been given at least a temporary reprieve from the E-Verify regulations that were set to go into effect January 15. Under the plan, the contractors would be required to begin using the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services E-Verify system to ensure that their employees are […]

Employee Privacy Challenges & Solutions

M. Lee Smith Publishers and HR Hero have just released a new HR executive special report on employee privacy challenges for HR pros – Employee Privacy Challenges & Solutions: Electronic Monitoring, Health Information, Personnel Files, and More. The report is written by employment law attorney Katherine Novak Townsend. Employee Privacy Challenges & Solutions, is a […]

New Employment Laws and Regulations Going into Effect

While the world has been focused on the U.S. and global economic meltdown, a historic presidential election, and staggering unemployment numbers, some pretty significant changes have been made in federal employment laws and regulations with most going into effect in just a few weeks. A recent issue of HR Hero Line includes a roundup of […]