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

Safety/Health

Applying for Special Disability Fund? Make sure you fill out forms correctly

12/01/2007

Employers and workers’ compensation carriers can sometimes be partially reimbursed for workers’ comp payments if prior injuries contributed to an employee’s inability to work. But applying to the Special Disability Fund requires careful completion of the application forms—the agency that handles such requests is often a stickler for details, and courts usually uphold the agency’s decisions …

Workplace injuries and illnesses fall to lowest level on record

12/01/2007

Good news for your organization, employees and workers’ comp costs: U.S. workplace injury/illness rates have fallen to their lowest point since the Bureau of Labor Statistics began tracking those numbers in 1972 …

Nuclear plant whistle-Blower terminated, then sues

12/01/2007

An engineer at a Georgia nuclear plant was terminated and escorted from the plant after he filed a complaint about plant safety with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). The engineer filed the complaint after a valve at the plant became stuck, affecting the plant’s ability to control the nuclear reaction …

Workplace genetic testing raises discrimination concerns

12/01/2007

Advances in genetic research have renewed attention on the workplace implications of genetic testing. Genetic research has many potential benefits. But there is growing concern that employers with access to genetic information may use it to discriminate …

Keeping employees safe when serving alcohol at company parties

12/01/2007

Q. I’m an HR director and I’m planning our company’s holiday party. What is our liability as the host if we serve alcohol? …

Safely serving alcohol at company parties

12/01/2007

Q. I’m an HR director and I’m planning our company’s holiday party. What is our liability as the host if we serve alcohol?

HR pros, take note: Doing your job isn’t ‘Protected activity’

12/01/2007

Employees whose jobs involve telling their employers that they may be violating laws aren’t necessarily protected from retaliation under North Carolina law or under the federal Title VII—if the reporting concerns areas covered by the Civil Rights Act or the Fair Labor Standards Act …

Survey says half of refineries as dangerous as BP Texas City

12/01/2007

According to a recent survey, the same kinds of conditions that preceded a deadly March 2005 accident at BP Products North America’s Texas City refinery are pervasive in refineries across the nation. The survey polled union leaders at 51 refineries, representing 49% of the U.S. refining capacity …

Must you pay for employees’ work boots and other personal safety gear?

11/20/2007

For years, employers have wondered what kind of personal protective equipment they must furnish and what employees must pay for themselves. After eight years, OSHA has issued a final rule that spells it out. There’s good news for employers.

Recommendation to drop charges in Ag-Mart pesticide case

11/01/2007

Administrative Law Judge Joe Webster has recommended that the state drop all but 17 of the 369 charges of pesticide application violations against Florida-based Ag-Mart, reducing the company’s fines to $6,000 from nearly $185,000.  Ag-Mart was cited in 2005 for a slew of worker safety violations …