Practical HR Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
A mental health parity measure has been passed in Congress as part of the $700 billion financial rescue package. The measure requires covered employers that provide health plans to cover mental illness and substance abuse on the same basis as physical conditions. President George W. Bush signed the financial package on Friday, October 3. The […]
On September 5, 2008, New York Governor David A. Paterson signed into law Bill No. A10625, which amends New York’s General Business Law. Effective immediately, the amendment clarifies who must abide by New York’s Disposal of Personal Records Law, which relates to the disposal of records containing personal identifying information. Personal identifying information consists of […]
President Bush signed the ADA Amendments Act of 2008 (ADAAA) into law on Sept. 25. It will expand interpretation of the American with Disabilities Act’s coverage, reversing a trend toward narrow construction that began with a string of U.S. Supreme Court decisions starting in 1999. The amendments become effective January 1, 2009. Learn more from […]
The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld the controversial Legal Arizona Workers Act (LAWA). Under the LAWA, which took effect January 1, 2008, a business found guilty of “knowingly” or “intentionally” hiring undocumented workers faces suspension or revocation of its business license and is placed on probationary status for a period of time. […]
Workplace violence is a serious threat to American employers and employees. Although homicide in the workplace has steadily declined since 1994, it is still the fourth leading cause of workplace fatalities in the United States. In addition, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that in 2006, more than 22,000 employees in private industry missed days […]
A proposed measure that would amend the Colorado Constitution to bar employers from firing or suspending employees without just cause was certified for the November 2008 ballot by the Colorado secretary of state on August 22. The “Just Cause Initiative,” which will appear on the November ballot as Amendment 55, gathered more than 130,000 signatures […]
Effective August 15, Louisiana will join a growing number of “red” states that have limited employer policies banning guns from the workplace. Under the new law (Senate Bill 51), employers may not prohibit employees from storing “lawfully possessed” firearms in their locked personally owned or leased vehicles while parked on company property. The new law […]
The first case, Meacham v. Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory, involved an employer’s decision to lay off 31 employees, 30 of whom were age 40 or older. The workers sued, claiming the layoffs had a disparate impact on older workers in violation of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA). The employer claimed it based its […]
Update: E-verify deadline moved to September 2009 On June 6, President George W. Bush issued an executive order requiring all federal government contractors to use E-Verify to verify the work authorization of all new hires and existing personnel assigned to perform work on future federal contracts. The amended Executive Order 12989 states: “Adherence to the […]
The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled in separate decisions that retaliation is prohibited under two federal discrimination statutes that don’t clearly say so — 42 U.S.C. § 1981 and the federal-sector provisions of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA). CBOCS West, Inc. v. Humphries In the first case, a Cracker Barrel assistant manager sued […]