• The HR Specialist - Print Newsletter
  • HR Specialist: Employment Law
  • The HR Weekly

Employment Law

Made an FMLA mistake? Avoid liability by offering reinstatement, no strings attached

02/25/2011
The FMLA is a complicated law that can trip up even the most experienced HR professional. And sometimes it may not be apparent that an employee didn’t get the leave he was entitled to until after his legal complaint is in full swing. Fortunately, there’s still something you can do to cut the potential liability.

$1 million more in OT for Fort Irwin contractors

02/24/2011
Login Email Address Password I forgot my password To continue reading this page, become an HR Specialist Premium Plus member today! Your subscription includes: Ask the Attorney: Answers to your HR legal questions Compliance Guidance: Access to 7,000 HR news articles, updated daily, sorted by state State-by-State: Summaries of HR laws in all 50 states […]

Be prepared to justify newcomer’s higher pay

02/24/2011

If you decide to pay new hires more than employees with similar or better qualifications, be prepared to prove why you needed to sweeten the pot. Otherwise, you could be risking an Equal Pay Act lawsuit if an incumbent belongs to a protected class.

Should we pay for training time?

02/23/2011
Q. Occasionally, we offer in-house training and development programs for our employees. The training is strictly voluntary and isn’t conducted during normal working hours. Our company has never paid employees for the time spent attending such training. Is that legal?

9th Circuit tackles harassment, retaliation against gay workers

02/23/2011
A recent 9th Circuit Court of Appeals decision highlights unexpected problems employers can face when gay employees are harassed because of their sexual orientation. The case—Dawson v. Entek International—illustrates what can go wrong when harassment occurs, HR is slow to respond and retaliation is alleged.

Health care workers at five hospitals ratify new contract

02/23/2011
More than 2,700 staffers at five hospitals run by Hospital Corporation of America will get pay raises following ratification of a new contract by members of the United Healthcare Workers-West (UHW) union.

Extra! Extra! Read all about it! Raises for Chronicle workers!

02/23/2011
Increases of any kind are rare in the newspaper business these days. Thus, it was big news late last year when the San Francisco Chronicle and the California Media Workers Guild agreed to a two-year contract that increased wages for some employees as much as 5% and added benefits, too.

Track accommodation process to pinpoint ADA breakdown

02/23/2011

When a disabled employee needs reasonable accommodations, he has to tell his employer. Then the employer and employee must engage in an interactive process to see what accommodations are possible. Courts want to see sincere effort from both. That’s why you should track the accommodations process.

Legislature must sign off on government union contracts

02/23/2011
Despite tough fiscal times, labor unions are trying to squeeze out the best possible benefits for their members. But when the people of California will pay the bill, unions and government agencies need to provide a cost breakdown to the state Legislature. Otherwise the agreements won’t become law.

Provide wage statements to all employees–even if they can’t give a Social Security number

02/23/2011

Under California law, all employees must receive regular wage statements. Employers that “inadvertently” fail to provide pay information might get away with it, but they shouldn’t count on it. Recently, the Court of Appeal of California considered the meaning of “inadvertently” and upheld penalties assessed against an employer that classified workers as independent contractors when they could not provide Social Security numbers.